You Won’t Believe These 10 Houseplant Statistics – We Are A Nation Obsessed With Growing!
In the UK, houseplants have exploded in popularity.
The truth is that houseplants are a burgeoning industry, with enthusiasts spending thousands on rare cultivars – often those with genetic defects that give rise to interesting and rare traits like variegated foliage.
Buyers in fact have spent upwards of £40,000 on a single plant, signalling the rise of an emerging but fascinating industry, with the UK sitting at the forefront of this emergence.
Here are some headline stats for houseplant popularity, upkeep and spending:
Headline UK Houseplant Statistics & Facts
- The average Brit spends £306.71 a year on houseplants. (2021)
- In 2022, Brits spent £6.1 billion on plants (2023)
- 46% of Brits purchased a houseplant in 2022 (2023)
- Houseplants in the office could increase productivity by up to 15%. (2014)
- 37% of purchasers think that the container is just as important as the type of plant. (2022)
- 34% of houseplant owners said they valued their plants during lockdown. (2020)
- 43% of people with houseplants said looking after them improved their wellbeing. (2022)
- Houseplant sales in UK garden centres in 2021 had increased by 50% since 2019. (2023)
- 48% of 25-39 year-olds worry about keeping houseplants alive. (2020)
- Aloe vera is the most searched-for houseplant in the UK. (2022)
Read more about each of these below –
1) The average Brit spends £306.71 a year on houseplants
A poll of 2,000 people deducted that Brits spend an average of £25.56 a month on houseplants, resulting in a total annual spend of over £300.1Hughes, A. (2021, July 16). Average Briton spends hundreds of pounds on houseplants each year, poll finds. The Independent. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uk-adults-houseplants-poll-gen-z-b1885308.html
The OnePoll study was commissioned by Miracle-Gro, and also found that it’s the younger generation (18-24-year-olds) that spent the most on houseplants for their homes.
On average, Brits buy 2 new houseplants a month, with 18-24-year-olds buying double that amount.
| Monthly Spend | Annual Spend | New Houseplants Per Month |
|---|---|---|
| £25.56 | £306.71 | 2 |
The reason so much money is spent on houseplants might be to do with the impact they have on their owners, with 51% of the participants stating that they bought a plant to bring nature into their homes, and 36% of them owning plants because they improve their mood.
Over a third of those who took part in the survey said they couldn’t imagine living in a home without houseplants.
The study also revealed that over 50% of houseplant owners have killed an average of 5 plants accidentally.
Overwatering was the biggest unintentional killer, with 54% of plant owners admitting to this, with 30% revealing it was not enough sunlight that caused their plant to die.
2) In 2022, Brits spent £6.1 billion on plants
According to data collected by the Research Department at Statista, £6.1 billion was spent by consumers on their garden, plants and flowers in the UK in 2022.2Statista Research Department. (2023, September 23). Garden, plants, and flowers purchase trend in the United Kingdom 2005-2022. Statista. Retrieved November 22, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/429779/annual-expenditure-plants-and-flowers-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/
This was an approximately 13% decrease in expenditure from 2021, with 3021 sales capping off at £6.9 billion.
Despite this decrease, this was a slight increase in sales from data collected in 2020 and the years previous.
The data collected highlights the dramatic surge in popularity for the horticulture industry as a whole, with Brits spending almost twice the amount on plants as they did in 2013.
3) 46% of Brits purchased a houseplant in 2022
In a published market report on UK houseplants released by the Horticultural Trade Association in 2022, it was revealed that 46% of Brits had purchased a houseplant in 2022, which was a slight increase from the previous year.3Horticultural Trade Association. (2023, October). From Nursery to Nature: The Value of Plants. HTA: The Value of Plants Report. Retrieved November 22, 2023, from https://hta.org.uk/resources/get?mediaId=15076
It also found that consumers aged between 25-34 were the age group most likely to spend money on houseplants, as they accounted 23% of the total consumer spend made by the UK population.
| Bought A Houseplant (2022) | Purchased Outdoor Plants (2022) | Avg. UK Houseplant Buyers Since 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| 35% of Brits | 60% of Brits | +14% |
The Horticultural Trade Association also found that Garden Centres are where the majority of houseplants are purchased, with an estimated 200 million visits made to garden centres by Brits in 2023.
4) Houseplants in the office could increase productivity by up to 15%
A 2014 study found that houseplants that were kept in the office could help to increase the productivity of its staff by up to 15%.4Why plants in the office make us more productive. (2014, September 1). University of Exeter. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_409094_en.html
Researchers from the University of Exeter in the UK found that plants in the office made individuals feel more physically, emotionally and cognitively involved in the tasks they were completing, resulting in higher levels of productivity throughout the day.
Houseplants in the workplace not only improved levels of concentration, but also appeared to have a positive effect on the air quality, the study also found.
Individuals that feel happier in their workspaces seemingly work in a more productive way, and a green workspace is said to do just that.
5) 37% of purchasers think that the container is just as important as the type of plant
In a study published by the Floral Marketing Fund in 2022, it was reported that 37% of consumers consider the pot that their houseplant comes in just as much as the plant itself before purchasing.5Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Study 2021. (2021, January 17). Floral Marketing Fund. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://floralmarketingfund.org/product/consumer-houseplant-purchasing-2021/
In fact, some consumers in the study were not even aware of the type of plant they were purchasing, but instead were influenced by its appearance and the container it came in.
The study, which was conducted by researchers from the University of Texas gathered data from 6 of the biggest industry suppliers in the US, focused on the habits of consumers when it came to purchasing houseplants.
It also found that flowering houseplants were the most popular and the most money was spent on purchasing indoor palm plants.
6) 34% of houseplant owners said they valued their plants during lockdown
In a study commissioned by the RHS in 2020, a survey of 2000 people found that 34% of houseplant owners valued them more during lockdown, as they gave them a sense of purpose in the home.6Get the gardening low-down on lockdown. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/health-and-wellbeing/articles/Lockdown-lowdown
7 in 10 people found that having a garden in lockdown improved their mental health, with 67% stating that when looking for their next home, having a garden would be a big priority.
7) 43% of people with houseplants said looking after them improved their wellbeing
In a survey of 1,000 people living in the UK, 43% of participants said that taking care of houseplants had a positive impact on their overall wellbeing.7MIND. (2022, May 23). Over 7 million have taken up gardening since the pandemic: new research shows spending more time in nature has boosted nation’s wellbeing. Mind. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/over-7-million-have-taken-up-gardening-since-the-pandemic-new-research-shows-spending-more-time-in-nature-has-boosted-nation-s-wellbeing/
The survey, which was commissioned by the mental health charity Mind in 2022, was a collaboration with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and aimed to discover the impact plants can have on people’s mental wellbeing.
It found that over 7 million people in the UK benefited mentally from taking up gardening for the first time during the start of the pandemic in 2020.
63% of respondents said that gardening or spending time in nature improved their stress levels and made them happier.
8) Houseplant sales in UK garden centres in 2021 had increased by 50% since 2019
A UK study conducted by the Garden Centre Association found that garden centre houseplant sales in 2021 had increased approximately by 50% since 2019, highlighting the impact that the pandemic has had on people’s interest in keeping houseplants in their home.8Statista Research Department. (2023, March 10). Post-pandemic annual sales change of houseplants in garden centers in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2021. Statista. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1326279/post-pandemic-houseplant-annual-sales-change-uk/
It also found that retail growth was up 30% from 2020, with people keen to reap the benefits of plants and gardening.
The study was based on trade figures that were released in early 2022 and suggested that garden centres were one of the few lucky retailers to quickly recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
9) 48% of 25-39 year-olds worry about keeping houseplants alive
In a 2020 survey of 2,000 25–39-year-olds carried out by OnePoll, 48% of participants said that they were worried about keeping their houseplants alive.9Fritz, K. (2020, April 8). SURVEY: Decorating with Houseplants. Articulate. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.article.com/blog/survey-decorating-with-houseplants/
The survey, which was commissioned by Article, also found that 47% of those asked did not currently own a plant because they were not sure how to take care of it.
Despite these anxieties, the research found that 41% of participants wanted to add to their houseplant collection over the following 12 months.
The survey, which aimed to understand the relationship that millennials have with plants, found that 7/10 people considered themselves ‘plant parents’ and 81% said that owning a houseplant has had a positive impact on their mental health.
48% said they owned houseplants to improve air quality in their home, whilst 45% stated that the reason they owned houseplants was because they found them calming.
10) Aloe vera is the most searched-for houseplant in the UK
Using data pulled from Google’s Keyword Planner in 2022, David Wilson Homes found that Aloe vera was the most searched houseplant in the UK, with an average monthly search volume of 49,500.10The UK’s Most Searched For Houseplants. (n.d.). Houseplants. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.dwh.co.uk/uks-most-searched-for-houseplants/
Its popularity doesn’t just stop on Google; Aloe vera also appeared in 4.6 million hashtags on Instagram, seemingly cementing itself as one of the most stylish houseplants.
| Houseplant | Instagram Hashtags |
|---|---|
| Aloe Vera | 4,600,000 |
| Philodendron | 1,900,000 |
| Ivy | 1,800,000 |
| Anthurium | 764,000 |
| Air Plant | 725,000 |
Ivies, peace lilies, snake plants and spider plants also proved to be extremely popular, all exceeding 40,000 searches a month on average.
This research found that houseplants that required little to no care seemed to be searched for the most.
The most asked plant questions were related to water issues, whilst drooping and dying leaves were the biggest issues for houseplant owners.
