diff --git a/registrasion/templatetags/registrasion_tags.py b/registrasion/templatetags/registrasion_tags.py
index 02cda54efed7e32fcbdd2d2c515963ab61cc70ac..623159198cd0726905e37a12ab7dda84b72f733f 100644
--- a/registrasion/templatetags/registrasion_tags.py
+++ b/registrasion/templatetags/registrasion_tags.py
@@ -95,6 +95,17 @@ def items_purchased(context, category=None):
     )
 
 
+@register.assignment_tag(takes_context=True)
+def total_items_purchased(context, category=None):
+    ''' Returns the number of items purchased for this user (sum of quantities).
+
+    The user will be either `context.user`, and `context.request.user` if
+    the former is not defined.
+    '''
+
+    return sum(i.quantity for i in items_purchased(context, category))
+
+
 @register.assignment_tag(takes_context=True)
 def report_as_csv(context, section):