How Much Do Americans Spend on Halloween? (2014–2023)
Ranked among the top shopping holidays in the United States in terms of expenditure per person, Halloween is one event businesses should ramp up their marketing for to boost revenue. In 2023, the average household spent over $100 on Halloween. But what was the cost of Halloween celebrations overall?
How much is spent on Halloween each year?
Recent data on the amount of money spent on Halloween each year shows that in 2023, total expenditure hit a record high of $12.2 billion. This marked a 15.1% annual increase from 2022’s $10.6 billion.
The same data shows that the overall cost of Halloween celebrations has been fluctuating over the past decade. In 2014, the total amount of money spent on Halloween was $7.4 billion. This fell by 6.8% the year after, in 2015, to $6.9 billion.
→ Click Here to Launch Your Online Business with Shopify
The dip was met with a surge of 21.7% in 2016, when the total amount of money spent on Halloween increased by $1.5 billion, to $8.4 billion. Another year of growth followed in 2017, when expenditure grew 8.3%, to $9.1 billion, a then record.
The three subsequent years saw Halloween spending decrease, falling marginally by 1.1% and 2.2% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, before declining 9.1% in 2020, to $8 billion. The tumble in 2020 is likely a result of the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, just 58% of consumers said they planned on celebrating Halloween. Not only was it a 10 percentage point fall from 2019, it was also the lowest since 2005.
In 2021, the total amount of money spent on Halloween skyrocketed 26.3%, surpassing $10 billion for the very first time. This was also the biggest annual increase in Halloween spending in at least a decade.
From 2014 to 2023, expenditures on Halloween celebrations increased by $4.8 billion, marking a 64.9% overall increase and an average annual growth rate of 6.4%.
Changes in the total amount of money spent on Halloween each year correspond with those in the percentage of people celebrating. Over the past decade, a fall in the percentage of consumers saying they planned to mark the event was met with a decline in overall expenditure, and vice versa.