Have you ever wondered about the total cost of each item in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song? That is to say, if you actually went out and bought a pear tree, a partridge, 2 French hens, etc. How much do you think it would actually cost?
Each year a number of economists attempt to estimate the cost for all the gifts mentioned in the song. The results by advisors who have been doing this study for 22 years, are as follows.
- One Partridge in a Pear Tree: $144.99 ($15.00 Partridge, $129.99 Pear Tree)
- Two Turtle Doves: $40.00 ($20.00 each)
- Three French Hens: $45.00 ($15.00 each)
- Four Calling Birds: $479.96 ($119.99 each)
- Five Gold Rings: $325.00 ($65.00 each)
- Six Geese-a-Laying: $300.00 ($50.00 each)
- Seven Swans-a-Swimming: $4,200.00 ($600.00 each)
- Eight Maids-a-Milking: $41.20 ($5.15 each)
- Nine Ladies Dancing: $4,759.19 ($528.80 each)
- Ten Lords-a-Leaping: $4,160.25 ($416.02 each)
- Eleven Pipers Piping: $2,124.00 ($186.66 each)
- Twelve Drummers Drumming: $2,224.30 ($193.09 each)
The grand total of the song - $18,920.59 - and that's in US dollars! In Aussie dollars, that amounts to $24,065.03.
The survey has also included an internet component to keep up with the fact that a lot of gifts are now purchased online. By buying all of the above gifts online, the price jumps quite significantly to a whopping $30,330.49 USD or $38,578.56 AUD!
