(NRF) (WTAJ) — The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects consumers to spend a record amount of $10.1 billion for Halloween this year, according to a survey done by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
The average person is expected to spend about $103 this year on costumes, candy, decorations and greeting cards. That ends up averaging about $10 more per person than last year.
The highest percentage of consumers is expected to hand out candy to celebrate Halloween this year, being at 66 percent. The lowest percentage way people are expected to celebrate this year is by visiting a haunted house which is 18 percent, according to the NRF.
Last year, when the CDC told people to stay away from trick-or-treating because of COVIID-19, consumers spent about $8 billion. Only 58 percent of people participated in Halloween last year, but this year 65 percent of Americans plan to celebrate the spooky holiday.
Households with children are expected to spend an average of $149.69 for the holiday compared to $73.57 expected to be spent on average by households without children. Total spending for costumes is expected to be the most spent since 2017 while decorations, greeting cards and candy are expected to be the highest in the past four years.
The majority of consumers plan to shop for Halloween a bit early this year with 45 percent planning to shop in September or earlier and 39 percent expected to shop about two weeks before.
“This year in particular, we see an emphasis on Halloween spending from families,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Not only are those with children intending to spend more on Halloween-related items like costumes, they are also getting a kick start on their shopping, with more than half planning to start their shopping in September or earlier.”
The survey also found that more than 1.8 million children will go as Spider-Man this year for Halloween, while the most common costume for pets will be a pumpkin. Over 4.6 million adults plan to dress up as a witch this year.
The survey was conducted by the NRF from Sept. 1st- Sept. 8th and 8,061 consumers were surveyed about their plans for Halloween.