The Economics of Halloween: A 10 Billion Dollar Day
October 31st is a very important day for many across the world, and in particular many in the United States. When surveyed, 69% of Americans said that they planned to celebrate Halloween this year. This statistic probably won’t surprise most people in the United States because almost everyone will agree that no matter where you live, you are bound to see someone dressed up in a costume once night falls on the 31st. Similarly, it is common to see houses decorated with spiderwebs, pumpkins, witches, bats, ghosts, and more — even weeks before the night of Halloween. As a country, the United States takes Halloween very seriously.
But the costs of costumes, decorations, food, drinks, and candy all add up and that increase in consumer spending often has a significant effect on the economy. This year, given predictions about a future recession and current inflation rates, many economists predicted that people would be spending less on Halloween. Inflation has affected consumerism in a large part. Prices are rising and people have less money to spend on luxuries such as new costumes and decorations. Candy prices – a key ingredient to celebrating Halloween – for example, are currently up 13% compared to last year. But it looks like the economy will not stop Americans from celebrating and spending completely this year, and, in fact, 2022 will be the biggest year in terms of Halloween spending so far.
Halloween spending took a brief hit during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 with only 8 billion spent compared to the 8.8 billion in 2019. But since then, Halloween has caused people to spend more than ever. According to the National Retail Federation, in 2021, Americans spent 10.14 billion dollars, and this year even more Americans are celebrating after two years of COVID-19 restrictions and precautions. The amount spent is predicted to jump to 10.6 billion dollars. It seems like, even with the current economy, Americans are fitting Halloween and other holiday spending into their budgets. On average each person who will celebrate Halloween this year will be spending approximately 100 dollars. That amount of money quickly adds up with the large population of the US.
So, what types of things are Americans spending their money on when it comes to Halloween? The biggest section is obvious, costumes. That’s what Halloween is all about, getting to dress up and pretend to be someone or something else for the night. This year alone Americans will be spending 3.6 billion dollars on costumes. Closely followed by 3.4 billion dollars on decorations, another obvious category. Followed again by 3.1 billion for candy, an essential to any Halloween night. And finally, the remaining 0.6 billion dollars will be spent on holiday cards.
Halloween can also stimulate the economy in other ways outside of consumer spending on costumes, decorations, and candy. Seasonal stores such as Spirit Halloween that only open around this time of year help create temporary jobs for people. With more jobs, more people have a little extra money to spend and therefore more money is circulated in the economy. Also, Halloween is the official start of the holiday season, bringing about store deals and specials which creates more appeal for a little extra spending from companies and consumers alike.
Americans seem to love Halloween and as long as that is the case then it seems that consumer spending around this time of year will only continue to grow. Even in hard times for the American economy people will continue to want to dress up, decorate their space, and eat candy for this special holiday.
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Do you plan to celebrate Halloween or participate in Halloween activities this year?
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How Much Americans Spend on Halloween
Planned annual Halloween expenditure in the United States from 2005 to 2022