Passengers move through Ronald Reagan National Airport on the day before the Thanksgiving holiday, November 27, 2019. (Source: Getty Images)
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it is a huge time for spending money on food, gifts, and travel. Let’s relate Thanksgiving to mathematics and analyze the statistics from this year and the year before.
Turkey Tally
Everyone is waiting for the turkey during Thanksgiving dinner, but are we thankful for everything? In 2022, 5.19 billion pounds of turkeys were produced in the United States alone. Approximately, 40 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving every year. Which has raised around $949 million spent on the turkeys in America. Are we actually thankful for everything? Millions of turkeys are sacrificed every year, just to be on our plates on Thanksgiving. If we are thankful for everything, then why are countless turkeys killed on behalf of the thankfulness holiday? Shouldn’t we attempt to protect the unique species?
Shopping Statistics
Not only do people celebrate Thanksgiving, they also rush to stores to get the best deals. 50% - 60% of the people who shopped on Thanksgiving weekend went shopping because of the good deals. An average of $325 were spent over the five day Thanksgiving period. In 2022, 197 million people went shopping over the Thanksgiving period. On Thanksgiving day itself, in 2022, people spent $5.29 billion shopping online. This year $5.6 billion were spent on Thanksgiving day which consisted of $3.3 billion dollars spent online shopping. This is a 5.5% increase from last year. The sales over the 5 day period are going to skyrocket this year. If you are planning on shopping, you better start early!
Upcoming Predictions
It's a known fact that millions of people travel around the time of Thanksgiving. In fact, AAA predicts that this year, more than 55.4 million Americans will travel the Thanksgiving weekend. Of the 55.4 million, it is estimated that 49.1 million will be driving. Though this number is huge, it is still less than two percent lower compared to the travel in 2019. On a bus, train, or cruise trip, there will be 1.55 million Americans traveling. This is a big comeback since the pandemic hit. Eleven percent more people have booked cruises during this weekend compared to 2022. Finally, it is predicted that 4.7 million Americans will be flying. This is the highest number of Americans flying in 18 years! Along with so many people traveling, lots of diseases will spread too. So mask up and take health precautions while traveling. Are you going anywhere special this season?