Valentine’s Day: Roses about 20% more expensive than last year

Though's buying a Valentine's Day bouquet today will have to reach further into their wallets than last year. Roses are 20 percent more expensive than last Valentine's Day, and tulips, carnations, and other cut flowers are 10 percent more expensive, ROyal FloraHolland said to NOS.

The increase is mainly caused by high gas prices and the lack of transport capacity from Africa. As Valentine's Day falls in winter, flower growers need gas to heat their greenhouses. "When it's cold outside with little sun, like now, the flower won't grow fast enough," Hendrik Mostert, flower buyer at Van Beest, said to NOS. Growers can't afford to heat all their greenhouses, so the supply of roses is smaller than the demand - pushing the prices.

Buyers usually also import flowers from Africa in the winter. But transport problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic have still not been resolved. "There are far fewer planes with roses coming our way than in previous years," Mostert said. So the deficit grows, and prices increase.

Mostert doesn't think the higher prices will deter Netherlands residents from buying their loved ones flowers this Valentine's Day. "Despite a lot of negativity, there is a lot of love in this country. I think a lot of people will express that by giving each other flowers."

About 150 million roses are traded through Royal FloraHolland in the run-up to Valentine's Day each year.