St. Valentines Day.... Not just about love.

St. Valentines day is is not only celebrated in the U.S. but also in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Denmark, Italy and Japan. It's a huge business all around. These figures might be dated a couple of years but I thought I'd share:

141 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually. That makes it the second-most popular greeting-card occasion of the year.

Over 40,000 Americans are employed at chocolate companies.

Shipments in 2007 for producing chocolate and cocoa products came to a total of $14.4 billion.

Non-chocolate confectionery products manufactured in 2007 came to a total of $5.6 billion.

In February 2011 jewelry stores in the U.S. sold a total of $2.27 billion.

The value of cut flowers produced by operations with $100,000 or more in sales in the U.S. in 2010 was $375 million. Of this value $17 million, or just over 22%, was due to roses.

This holiday sure packs a punch and not only in the romance department.

So buy some chocolate, flowers or send a card! You're helping the economy. :)