Americans spent a record $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey, topping last year's record of $13.1 billion even as many shoppers described sticking to tighter budgets.
The NRF's survey, conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics among nearly 7,900 consumers in early September, put average per-person spending at $115.14, barely above last year's $114.45. Costumes accounted for the largest single category at $4.4 billion, with 71% of Halloween shoppers planning to buy one; decorations followed at $4.3 billion and candy at $4.1 billion.
NRF's Allison Zeller said consumers "continue to make Halloween a spending priority" while shopping with affordability in mind — a dynamic reflected in where people bought: discount stores led at 39% of shoppers, ahead of specialty costume retailers at 32% and online retail at 27%.
The record comes in a year when candy makers have separately warned of rising costs, after cocoa prices climbed sharply through 2026 — a squeeze that pushed up shelf prices on bagged candy even as overall spending still grew. Costume and decoration spending, rather than candy alone, did the heavier lifting behind this year's total.
Retailers will now shift attention to the holiday season, with Halloween increasingly treated by chains as the unofficial kickoff to a shopping calendar that runs through Black Friday and into December. NRF's own forecasting has previously tracked a close relationship between strong Halloween spending and the winter holiday numbers that follow, giving retailers an early, if imperfect, read on consumer appetite heading into the busiest stretch of the year.