The cost of the 12 Days of Christmas is $45, 523 for 2022. That’s up 10.5% from last year. According to PNC Bank, If you bought each item over and over like the song says, that’s 364 total gifts, the total cost would be just under $200,000. Here’s a breakdown of each gift for each day.
Twelve drummers drumming . . . $3,267 to hire them.
Eleven pipers piping . . . $3,021.
Ten lords-a-leaping . . . $13,980. It’s the most expensive gift on the list. It’s based on how much it would cost to hire ten dancers from the ballet.
Nine ladies dancing . . . $8,308. Based on hiring nine women from a modern dance company.
Eight maids-a-milking . . . $58. Weird gift, but the cheapest on the list. That’s eight women milking cows for an hour at the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Seven swans-a-swimming . . . $13,125.
Six geese-a-laying . . . $720.
Five gold rings . . . $1,245, up 39%. That’s a bigger jump than anything else on the list. It’s for five 14-carat gold rings according to a national jewelry chain.
Four calling birds . . . $600.
Three French hens . . . $319.
Two turtle doves . . . $600.
And a partridge in a pear tree . . . $280. The partridge costs the same as last year. But fertilizer prices are up, so pear trees have jumped 26%.
My question is, has anyone ever actually bough all 12 days of Christmas?
Merry Christmas!
— Doug O’Brien
