PITTSBURGH, Pa. – PNC’s 42nd annual cost of Christmas Price Index reveals once again the price of celebrating Christmas is rising again.

Each year PNC calculates the cost of purchasing gifts from the classic holiday carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” a figure that rose 4.5% in 2025 from last year. 

The increase outpaced the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index in October year-over-year reading of 3%.

“This year’s increase reflects labor market pressures and economic uncertainty, not tariffs – True Love’s list is all domestic,” said Amanda Agati, chief investment officer of PNC Asset Management Group.

Starting in 1984, PNC’s Investment Office began measuring the Christmas Price Index using sources from across the country, including dance and theater companies, hatcheries, pet stores and other sources.

The 12 gifts increased to $51,476.12 in 2025, and purchasing all 364 gifts as the song repeats has grown to a whopping $218,542.98. While avoiding long lines and parking, those shopping online would find the bill at $55,748.05, which is impacted by elevated shipping and packaging costs.

The biggest increase by far was for five gold rings, which rose 32.5% year-over-year, although gold prices rose 45% as investors flock to precious metals.

Persistent inflationary pressures and expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts lowered the opportunity cost of holding gold, making it more attractive than yield-bearing assets. A frosty U.S. dollar, -4.0% year-over-year as of Oct. 31, also made gold shine brighter.

The Nine Ladies Dancing, 10 Lords-a-Leaping, 11 Pipers Piping and 12 Drummers Drumming might demand an ovation this year. In aggregate, prices for performers increased 5.4% this year, an encore on top of last year’s 7.9%.

Additionally, inflation has hit other parts of the song:

  • Although the Partridge was unchanged, there was a 14.3% jump in price for the Pear Tree. Land, labor and fertilizer have driven up tree prices this year. The Pear Tree can also serve as a proxy for housing costs, which likewise continue to move higher despite average mortgage rates falling off the rooftop by more than 100bps compared with a year ago.
  • Prices held steady this year for the Two Turtle Doves, Three French Hens, Four Calling Birds, Seven Swans-A-Swimming and Eight Maids-A-Milking.
  • The core version of the PNC CPI, just like the core version of the BLS CPI, which excludes the most volatile components of the index (the Swans for the PNC Index and food/energy in CPI), is up 6.1%. Swans typically have the most volatile price among items in the PNC CPI; however, this year, prices remained flat. That might actually be a positive signal for investors who have been bracing for investment “black swan” sightings or finding coal in their stocking even as the market continues to hit new highs.

“With the Fed signaling looser policy, 2026 will reveal whether inflation finally cools or remains the lump of coal in holiday stockings,” Agati said.

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