Halloween News

This Halloween, trick-or-treaters, party-goers and pampered pets will be dressing up in traditional spooky style with pumpkin, princess, witch and vampire costumes taking the top spots in NRF’s 2012 Top Costumes survey conducted by BIGinsight.

A record 170 million people plan to celebrate Halloween this year, according to NRF’s 2012 Halloween consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight. Seven in 10 Americans (71.5%) will get into the haunting Halloween mood, up from 68.6 percent last year and the most in NRF’s 10-year survey history. Consumers are expecting to spend more too; the average person will spend $79.82 on decorations, costumes and candy, up from $72.31 last year, with total Halloween spending expected to reach $8.0 billion.*

According to NRF’s 2011 Top Costumes survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 2.6 million men, women and children plan to dress as zombies this Halloween. Due to the popularity of the characters in recent books, television shows and video games, zombie costumes jumped from number 22 last year to number nine on children’s top costume list and from number seven to four on the adult list.

According to NRF’s 2011 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted by BIGresearch, seven in 10 Americans (68.6%) plan to celebrate Halloween, up from 63.8 percent last year and the most in NRF’s 10-year survey history.

According to NRF’s 2010 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, Americans will spend $66.28 on costumes, candy and decorations, up from last year’s $56.31 and comparable to the $66.54 average spend in 2008.

Select charts and information from NRF's 2010 Halloween Consumer Survey.

When it comes to Halloween costumes, vampires, princesses, police officers and pirates are in, while politicians, nurses and Batman are out. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 47 million adults and 58 million children across the country plan to dress up for Halloween this year.

One of the spookiest parts of Halloween this year may be the amount people plan to spend on their celebrations. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, consumers are expected to spend an average of $56.31 on Halloween, down from $66.54 last year. Total spending on the holiday is expected to reach $4.75 billion.

As more people plan to celebrate Halloween this year, consumers are looking to Hollywood and the upcoming election as their inspiration for costumes. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted by BIGresearch, an estimated 51.8 million adults plan to don some sort of costume for the big night. Their children – and pets – will also dress up for the occasion.

The spookiest holiday of the year may bring a bit of needed relief to consumers and retailers. According to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more consumers plan to celebrate the holiday this year (64.5% vs. 58.7%). This year, the average person plans to spend $66.54 on the holiday, up from $64.82 one year ago. Total Halloween spending for 2008 is estimated to reach $5.77 billion.