After hitting a record high in 2023, U.S. consumer spending for Halloween items like candy, decorations and costumes is expected to drop by $600 million to $11.6 billion, according to data from the industry group National Retail Federation (NRF). Despite the decrease, this still marks the second-highest expected spending in the past decade. While the coronavirus pandemic was responsible for the most recent drop before the 2024 Halloween season, growth had been stagnant before the novel virus' impact on public and social life around the world.
For example, after consumer spending increased by $2.2 billion between 2015 and 2017, 2018 and 2019 saw drops of $100 million and $200 million, respectively, compared to the previous year. So while the implementation of social distancing rules was certainly one cause for the drop of $800 million or ten percent in comparison with 2019, the industry had been bracing for decline for some time before the pandemic.
Zooming in on what U.S. residents are spending their money on shows most will go towards costumes and decorations. Additional NRF data indicates that overall consumers in the United States will allocate $3.8 billion each in both categories, with candy coming in second at $3.5 billion. The greeting card industry, however, will hardly profit from Halloween, with approximately $500 million spent on this specific type of Halloween item.
