New York Times Why Do Christmas Trees Cost More This Year?

Along with much else on the holiday shopping list, Christmas trees, both real and fake, are more expensive this year.

Prices for live cut trees have been creeping up and will run 5 to 10 percent higher, on average, than last year, said Doug Hundley, a seasonal spokesman for the National Christmas Tree Association, a trade group for tree growers.

But fears of mass tree shortages are unwarranted, said Marsha Gray, executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board, a marketing and research group funded by growers and overseen by the Agriculture Department.

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