Decline in Halloween Costumes for 2020

Halloween will look a lot different across the U.S. this fall season, with many parents signaling they’ll be keeping their children home due to fear of COVID-19 transmission. Still, many kids will trick-or-treat on Oct. 31, and many adults will dress up and attend socially distanced parties (hopefully). New data shows how the sales of Halloween costumes are expected to decline by different generations of U.S. adults.

According to Morning Consult, just 25 percent of U.S. adults said they plan to dress up in a costume for this upcoming Halloween. That’s down from 31 percent last year, suggesting COVID-19 fears are having a noticeable effect on how people celebrate the spooky holiday.

Generation Z adults, however, aren’t ready to give in to coronavirus pressures. With 50 percent of Gen Z adults saying they’ll dress up for Halloween last year, a similar 46 percent said the same for this year. Other generations, like Millennials and Generation X, had significant seven-point and nine-point drop-offs, respectively, in those dressing up for Halloween this season. The Baby Boomer generation had a similar four-point drop-off to Gen Z’ers, but that leaves only 8 percent of Boomers dressing up in a costume for this Halloween.