Ongoing recovery from pandemic-era pause

WASHINGTON – A record proportion of the U.S. population (73%)  is celebrating Halloween this year and the celebrants will spend an all-time high $12.2 billion on costumes, parties, decorations and candy, according to an annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics on behalf of the National Retail Federation.

Last year’s survey indicated that the Halloween holiday would rebound from a three-year pandemic-related lull, and this year’s research suggests that the momentum will be sustained. In 2022, 69% of the U.S. population participated in Halloween events, spending $10.6 million, NRF said.

“Consumers will be shopping early for festive décor and other related items and retailers are prepared with the inventory to help customers and their families take part in this popular and fun tradition,” Matthew Shay, NRF’s president and chief executive officer, said in a press release.

The 2023 Halloween survey asked 8,084 consumers about their shopping plans. It was conducted between September 1 and September 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points, the researchers said.

Per-person spending to hit record $108.24

The Prosper Insights & Analytics survey finds that about half of the U.S, population will be wearing a Halloween costume this year, and 53% will decorate their homes and yards with Halloween-themed decorations.

The research suggests that one of three Americans will attend a Halloween party this year, and 28% of parents will accompany their children on their trick-or-treating rounds.

The survey findings also suggest that more than two-thirds of Americans intend to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, and spending on Halloween sweets will hit a record $3.6 billion.

In a separate report released this week, consumer research firm Catalina projects that Americans will spend $3.1 billion on Halloween candy, a slight increase from a year ago, but warned that unit sales are likely to decline due to higher candy prices.

NRF also said that per-person spending is also up this year, with consumers planning to spend a record $108.24, up from the previous record of $102.74 in 2021. The greatest increase in spending came from costumes, which NRF said are more popular than ever.

Discount retailers lead the way

Sixty-nine percent of those celebrating Halloween plan to buy costumes, up from 67% last year and the highest in the survey’s history. Total spending on costumes is expected to reach a record $4.1 billion, up from $3.6 billion in 2022.

Spending on decorations, which grew in popularity during the pandemic, is expected to reach $3.9 billion. Of those celebrating Halloween, more than three-quarters (77%) plan to purchase decorations, up from 72% in 2019.

Spending on Halloween greeting cards is projected to be $500 million, down slightly from $600 million in 2022 but above pre-pandemic levels.

Similar to other major holidays and spending events like back-to-school and the winter holidays, consumers are looking to get an early start on their Halloween shopping. Nearly half of those celebrating the holiday plan to start shopping before October. This is on par with last year, but up from 33% a decade ago.

“Younger consumers are eager to begin their Halloween shopping, with more than half of those ages 25-44 planning to shop before or during September,” according to Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insight & Analytics. “Social media continues to grow as a source of costume inspiration for younger consumers, as more people under 25 are turning to TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram for ideas.”

The leading sources of inspiration continue to be online searches (37%), within a retail store or costume shop (28%), and friends and family (20%).

Season of the witch

Discount stores (40%) remain the leading destination to buy Halloween items, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (39%) and online (32%). While specialty Halloween and costume shops have always been a top destination for Halloween items, more consumers plan to shop at these stores this year than in the past, according to the survey.

Spending on adult costumes is expected to increase 18% over last year to $2 billion and spending on children’s costumes is expected to increase by 20% to $1.4 billion. In line with last year, spending on pet costumes is projected to reach $700 million.

The survey finds that about 2.6 million children plan to dress as Spiderman, 2 million as their favorite princess, around 1.6 million as a ghost, 1.5 million as a superhero and 1.4 million as a witch.

Three-quarters of adults planning to dress up for Halloween told the researchers that they already knew what their costume will be this year, up from 70% in last year’s survey. More than 5.8 million adults plan to dress like a witch, nearly 2.4 million as a vampire, 1.8 million as Barbie, more than 1.4 million as Batman and 1.3 million as a cat.

The most popular pet costumes include a pumpkin (11%), a hot dog (7%), a bat (4%), a bumblebee (3%) and a spider (3%).

There are some newcomers to the top costume rankings as pop culture is strongly influencing this spooky season, with many children and adults dressing up as characters from this year’s big movies and shows.