As we look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving later this month we decided to take a look at some of the data trends related to all aspects of the holiday from the food, to the travel, and the shopping. Data included here is sourced from Statista, which provides a wide variety of Thanksgiving related data, with many series available for free on their website.

• From 1999 to 2020 the number of turkeys produced in the United States has decreased by over 17%. There has been an 8% decrease since 2017 alone. Due to the pandemic, demand for smaller turkeys (<16 lbs) was much higher than normal in 2020 as people gathered to celebrate in smaller than normal groups.[1] While the trend for 2021 remains to be seen, suppliers have already warned about a shortage in smaller sized fresh turkeys, due to historical trends in reduced production and slowing demand, coupled with reduced labor and increased costs as a result of the pandemic.[2]

• The average price of those hard-to-come by 16 lb. turkeys was $19.39 in 2020. The basic ingredients for a ten-person Thanksgiving dinner averaged $46.90 last year.

• In 2020, 50.6 million people traveled for Thanksgiving. This is down from travel levels in 2017-2019, but above travel from 2008-2016. Over the period from 2005 to 2020, peak Thanksgiving holiday travel was back in 2005.

• The share of consumers shopping on Black Friday has been lower in recent years compared to 2015 and 2016. In 2020, 36% of consumers planned to shop on Black Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Camoin Associates!

[1] Krstic, Zee. Is There a National Turkey Shortage? How Thanksgiving and Other Holidays May Be Impacted. Good Housekeeping, 2 Sept. 2021.

[2] Fickensher, Lisa. Thanksgiving Turkeys May be Harder to Come by This Year. New York Post, 15 Aug. 2021.

Image Source: Adobe Spark and Camoin Associates