Halloween spending to hit a record $10.6 billion; most popular costume is….

Consumers are pumped to celebrate Halloween this year.

Participation in Halloween-related activities will resume to pre-pandemic levels, with 69% of consumers planning to celebrate the holiday this year, up from 65% in 2021 and comparable to 68% in 2019, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Total Halloween spending is expected to reach a record $10.6 billion, exceeding last year’s record of $10.1 billion.

Consumers plan to spend $100 on average for Halloween candy, décor, cards and costumes. This amount is on par with last year’s record of $103 and is the second highest in the survey’s history.  

Unsurprisingly, costumes account for the biggest area of Halloween purchases. Spending on kids’ and adult costumes is expected to total $2.9 billion, the highest amount since 2017. The most popular costume for children is Spiderman, followed by princess, while witch and vampire are the most popular with adults.

Pet spending is expected to exceed last year's record high, reaching $710 million.

Similar to recent years, Halloween enthusiasts will once again start their shopping early, with nearly half (47%) beginning in September or earlier. Forty percent plan to purchase their items at discount stores, 36% will go to specialty Halloween or costume stores and 31% will shop online.

Other highlights from the survey are below.

•The top ways consumers plan to celebrate include handing out candy (67%), decorating their home or yard (51%), dressing up in costume (47%), carving a pumpkin (44%) and throwing or attending a Halloween party (28%). One in five plan to dress their pet up in a costume. 

•More than 2.2 million children plan to dress as Spiderman, more than 1.9 million as their favorite princess, more than 1.6 million as a witch, and more than 1.3 million will dress as a ghost. Batman and other superheroes are tied for fifth most popular costume.

•More than 5.3 million adults plan to dress like a witch, more than 1.7 million as a vampire, more than 1.5 million as a ghost and more than 1.4 million as a pirate. And tied for fifth place: cat costume and  Batman.

•The most popular costumes for pet lovers include pumpkin (9%), hot dog (5%), bat (4%), bumblebee (3%) and   witch (3%).

•The leading source of Halloween costume inspiration remains from online searches (36%), while one-quarter say they will look within retail stores and 19% will get ideas from friends and family.

The survey asked 8,283 consumers about their Halloween shopping plans. It was conducted September 1-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.