LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Prices for traditional Christmas gifts aren’t rising quite as fast as prices in the broader economy—if you’re planning to gift your True Love seven swans-a-swimming.

Each year, PNC Bank calculates the price of the 12 gifts from the classic song, “The 12 Days of Christmas,” and compares them with the previous year’s prices. The resulting Christmas Price Index is a holiday play on the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation across the national economy.

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This year, gifting your True Love all 12 gifts mentioned in the song would cost you a hefty $47,729.86, up nearly 3% over 2022. If you complete the entire song, including the repeating verses, you’ll be out $201,972.66, marking the first time the total price has crossed the $200,000 threshold.

Here’s what you can expect to spend on your True Love’s Christmas.

  1. Partridge in a pear tree—The cost of the bird stayed steady in 2023, but the price of its tree grew by 15%, bringing the total to $319.
  2. Two turtle doves—Prices rose sharply for turtle doves this year, putting them as the most volatile gift on the list (beating out the swans—see below). These two relatively rare birds clocked in at $750 per pair.
  3. Three French hens—These birds aren’t quite so rare, but they do require substantial labor and energy expenditure to raise. As prices of both inputs rose, so did the prices of three French hens, putting the set at $330, 3.5% higher than last year.
  4. Four calling birds. No changes here. Four calling birds will cost you $600, the same as previous years.
  5. Five golden rings—For the first time in several years, consumers seem to be shying away from plain gold bands, creating no change in the year-over-year price. This set of rings—one for each finger! —could be yours, or your True Love’s, for just $1,245.
  6. Six geese a-laying—Most Michiganders could probably find these in their backyards. That could save them a substantial amount of money—$780, to be exact. The price of geese has risen by over 8% since last year, with the total price for the set of six rising by almost $500 since 2018.
  7. Seven swans a-swimming—Traditionally the gift with the wildest price fluctuations, the swan price stayed steady year-over-year this time. But these birds still clock in as one of the most expensive items on the list, hitting $13,125 for the set.
  8. Eight maids a-milking—If you’re not sure how to hire eight milkmaids, you’re in good company. The PNC index uses the federal minimum wage to calculate the cost of hiring the maids, and since the minimum went unchanged this year, the milkmaids experienced no inflation and cost only $58.
  9. Nine ladies dancing—Hiring a dance troupe will set you back $8,308. Prices stayed flat this year after a 10% jump in 2022.
  10. Ten lords a-leaping—Coming in at nearly $15,000, the ten athletic lords are even pricier than the swans.
  11. Eleven pipers piping—Musician fees are up by over 6% this year, bringing the cost of hiring a troupe up to $3,207.
  12. Twelve drummers drumming—Labor conditions for drummers are the same as those for pipers, bringing the total with one more band member up to $3,468. (If you’re looking for places to save money, this might be your best bet. Consider: Will your True Love really want to be followed around by twelve drummers drumming?

Economic trends in the U.S.

It’s quite possible that none of these gifts made your list this year. (Ten lords a-leaping, anyone?) Still, even the fanciful holiday price index mirrors trends in the larger U.S. economy. For example, pear trees are a proxy for housing costs, which are on the rise around the country. Labor costs also appear directly in the last five entries and indirectly as inputs to other goods.

In particular, inflation trends found in the Christmas Price Index reflect those of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which draws goods from around the national economy to calculate overall inflation.

“We crunched the numbers and found that since the PNC CPI [Christmas Price Index] launched, the BLS CPI has increased 191%, while the PNC CPI increased 133%,” said Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC’s Asset Management Group. “The methodology differences are obviously going to give distinct results, but the overall inflation trends have remained remarkably consistent over the years.”

What’s responsible for the uptick in True Love budgeting?

According to PNC, the culprit is primarily labor costs, which are also a major factor in the broader U.S. economy.

“The good news is that wage growth is now higher than the PNC CPI, which should help True Loves deck the halls this year, considering we are still in a high-inflation environment,” Agati said.

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