St. Patrick's Day Is Big Business

People far and wide will be raising their glass and toasting the Emerald Isle today. Every year, an estimated 13 million pints of Guinness are consumed around the world on St. Patrick's Day compared to 7.5 million on an average day. That's enough to fill two and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools. Even though the holiday is a big deal in Ireland, Americans tend to get pretty enthusiastic about it as well. As the following infographic shows, 56.1 percent of people in the U.S. plan to embrace their inner Irishness and celebrate this year. According to the National Retail Federation, spending is expected to be the highest in its survey's 13-year history at $5.3 billion.