🌅 Americans Are Spending Big on Halloween

Sunrise Stat
October 31, 2025

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The National Retail Federation has surveyed Americans about their Halloween plans each September beginning in 2005, finding just over half (53%) said they planned on celebrating that year. In 2025, that figure has jumped to 73%, marking a new record high and a massive 38% increase over the past two decades.

The NRF found Americans plan to spend a record $13.1 billion on Halloween costumes ($4.3 billion), decorations ($4.2 billion), and candy ($3.9 billion) this year, up from $5.8 billion in 2010. Per-person spending is expected to reach $114 this year—also a new record high—though adjusting for inflation and population puts the figure closer to $38.

Halloween began as a Celtic holiday to honor the dead, later becoming part of Western Christianity as a time to remember saints and mark the eve of All Hallows’ Day (a.k.a., All Saints’ Day). Today, it’s an annual secular event that’s become more commercialized over the past two decades as brands try to meet heightened consumer demand. It’s also become more professionalized, as the days of making homemade costumes and decorations have been replaced by trips to costume stores and big-box retailers. The proof is also in the candy: in September 2005, the U.S. imported around $250 million worth of candy; in September 2024, imports tripled to roughly $750 million.