Every year, PNC prices out the gifts from "The Twelve Days of Christmas" -- one partridge, two turtle doves, all the way to twelve drummers drumming. For 2025, one of each gift totaled $51,476.12, up 4.5% from the year before. The most expensive single item was the ten lords-a-leaping (performer fees, $16,836.14); the cheapest was the eight maids-a-milking, pegged to the federal minimum wage at $58.00.
Is there a 12 days of Christmas price index for 2026 yet?
Not yet -- PNC typically publishes the new index in late November or early December, timed to the holiday season it's tracking. Until then, the most recent official numbers are the 2025 figures above.
How much do the 12 days of Christmas gifts actually cost, item by item?
The two priciest categories are performers (lords, ladies, pipers, drummers) and birds (swans in particular, at $13,125 for seven). Physical goods like the pear tree, rings, and doves are comparatively modest. PNC's methodology sources bird prices from a zoo, gold ring prices from a jeweler, and performer fees from musicians' union rates.
A PNC Christmas Price Index calculator you can adjust
The published total assumes exactly one of each gift, which isn't how anyone actually shops. A calculator that lets you set your own quantities -- more pear trees, zero swans -- turns a trivia number into something personal.
What is the "true cost of Christmas" versus the price index?
PNC also publishes a "True Cost of Christmas" figure ($218,542.98 for 2025), which assumes you buy every gift as many times as it repeats in the song's lyrics (364 gifts total). That's a different number from the $51,476.12 one-of-each index -- easy to mix up if an article doesn't specify which one it's citing.
The 12 Days of Christmas Price Index Calculator starts from PNC's official 2025 per-gift prices and lets you adjust quantities to get your own personalized total, right next to the official $51,476.12 figure for comparison.
Try the 12 Days of Christmas Price Index Calculator →
Source: PNC's 2025 Christmas Price Index, pnc.com (official release, November 24, 2025).