During the 2024 Halloween season, consumers in the United States (U.S.) are expected to spend about 3.5 billion U.S. dollars on candy. This is a slight decrease compared to 2023 and the first decrease in expected spending since 2020. Halloween traditions Approximately 72 percent of Americans planned on celebrating Halloween in 2024. This constitutes the second-highest participation rate within the last eight years. In 2020, the share of Americans who participated in Halloween activities fell significantly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tradition of Halloween, which is celebrated on October 31st in the U.S., includes a variety of activities, such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, or carving pumpkins. On average, the expenditure on Halloween-related items among U.S. consumers amounts to about 104 U.S. dollars annually. The average Halloween expenditure has more than doubled since 2005. Many consumers planned to do their Halloween shopping in advance. About a third of U.S. consumers intended to buy Halloween candy between four and seven days before the event. Furthermore, a quarter of consumers even intended to purchase candy eight to fourteen days in advance. Halloween-costumes Due to the increases in inflation in 2022, consumers have generally tried to cut back. As a result, slightly less than one-third of American consumers planned to decrease their spending Halloween costumes to deal with the inflation. Nonetheless, in 2023, a total of 3.8 billion U.S. dollars was spent on spooky outfits and costumes by U.S. consumers for the Halloween season. Costume purchases make up the largest spending category during the Halloween season, as compared to decorations, candy, and greeting cards. The leading destination for Halloween costume shopping in the U.S. is Amazon. About 61 percent of U.S. consumers purchased their costumes through the online retailer.

In 2024, consumers in the United States expected to spend a combined total of three and a half billion U.S. dollars on trick-or-treat candy for the Halloween season. Americans were planning to spend the most on spooky costumes and decorations namely about 3.8 billion U.S. dollars in total or just under 34 U.S. dollars per person. Halloween participation In 2024, more than 70 percent of individuals surveyed in the United States said they planned to celebrate Halloween and/or participate in Halloween activities. This is a noteworthy increase in participation compared to Halloween 2020, a period that was severely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Interestingly, 2023 and 2024’s participation figures were higher than pre-COVID-19 figures. Halloween plans To honor the spooky season in 2023, some two-thirds of Americans planned to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, making it the most prevalent way in which people planned to celebrate Halloween. Many people also planned to dress up and carve out pumpkins to get in the Halloween spirit. Consumers often consider recent trends when picking out something to wear, and this also rings true during Halloween. As a result of the release of the 2024 movie, for instance, many adults are considering dressing up as Beetlejuice.

Data scraped from National Retail Federation webpage for 2020.

Last year, consumers in the United States expected to spend an all-time high of 12.2 billion U.S. dollars for the Halloween season. In 2024, however, U.S. shoppers were expected to spend about half a billion less. In fact, average spending per person was expected to drop by nearly five dollars when compared to the previous year. Shopping on All Hallows’ Eve From terrifying jack-o’-lanterns and skeleton props to chilling face makeup and treats, there are various items commonly purchased by consumers during the Halloween season. In 2024, Americans were expected to spend a total of nearly four billion U.S. dollars on costumes and outfits alone. Another three and a half billion U.S. dollars was projected to be spent on candy. Trick-or-treat! In 2024, over seven in 10 surveyed individuals in the United States said they would be celebrating Halloween, whether it is in the form of dressing up for a themed party or going out at night to trick-or-treat on or around October 31. When trick-or-treating at night, one never knows what treats one might get (e.g., licorice, chocolate, or maybe even money). But the households that do not offer anything to trick-or-treating souls can sometimes expect mischief to occur on their property.

In 2022, the average sales of chocolate bars/packs in convenience stores across the United States amounted to over 27 thousand U.S. dollars per store, making it the country’s highest-selling type of candy. About 14.8 thousand U.S. dollars per store was made through bagged/repacked peg candy that year.

Weekly candy sales Candy usually generates higher sales numbers at specific intervals each year. In 2021, retail candy sales in the United States were at their highest during Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. Between 900 and 1,100 million U.S. dollars’ worth of retail candy was sold during each of these weeks.

Seasonal candy in the U.S. Between 2015 and 2018, U.S. seasonal Halloween candy experienced a dollar sales increase of nearly 15 percent, making it the leading holiday season. Easter candy dollar sales, on the other hand, grew by just over one percent. In terms of unit sales for the same period, U.S. seasonal Halloween candy saw an estimated six percent increase, while Easter candy dropped by just under a percent.

Data from StatsCan.

This statistic depicts the seasonal candy retail sales in the United States for the weeks leading up to Halloween in 2014 and 2015. According to the National Confectioners Association (NCA), U.S. retail sales of seasonal candy amounted to approximately 491.3 million U.S. dollars for the 8 weeks leading up to Halloween 2015.

This statistic depicts the weekly retail sales of candy in the United States during the second half of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. In that period candy sales were highest in the week ending on the 31st of October 2021.

This statistic depicts the seasonal candy dollar sales growth in the United States from 2015 to 2018, by holiday. During the time period considered, U.S. seasonal Halloween candy saw a dollar sales growth of 13.6 percent.

This statistic depicts the seasonal candy unit sales growth in the United States from 2015 to 2018, by holiday. During the time period considered, U.S. seasonal Halloween candy saw a unit sales growth of 5.7 percent.

This statistic presents the planned average spending per household on candy for Easter in the United States from 2009 to 2023. In 2023, U.S. consumers planned on spending 26.31 U.S. dollars on average on candy for Easter.

Seasonal chocolate experienced a 5.9 percent increase in dollar sales during Halloween 2019 in the United States, versus 4.6 percent sales growth for non-chocolate Halloween candy. Seasonal chocolate also witnessed a significant sales growth of 10.8 percent during Easter that year.

In 2021, dollar sales of seasonal chocolate in the United States grew by almost 50 percent during the eight weeks ending on the 31st of October. With the exception of Valentine's non-chocolate products, both seasonal chocolate and non-chocolate candy sales grew for all periods covered that led up to the major holidays in the United States. Halloween saw the biggest gain for seasonal chocolate, while the winter holidays saw the biggest increase for non-chocolate candy sales.

In the third quarter of 2024, M&M's was the most popular candy brand in the United States (U.S.). About 79 percent of respondents had a positive opinion of the brand. In second place was Godiva, with 67 percent. The market for candy in the U.S. The Hershey company has the highest share in the confectionery market in the U.S., with almost 24 percent. Mars, Incorporated is Hershey’s biggest competitor in that market. With a market share of just under 23 percent, Mars closely follows in second place. Chewy candy is the type of candy with the highest sales, generating more than 4.2 billion U.S. dollars in annual sales. Novelty and breath fresheners follow as the second and third most popular types of candy, with sales of approximately 967 million and 554 million U.S. dollars, respectively. Candy purchases during Halloween in the U.S. The weekly retail sales of candy in the U.S. show large fluctuations throughout the months between July and February. Around Halloween, sales rise rapidly and reach levels that are more than twice as much as in July. Nonetheless, after the holiday, sales fall just as quickly. Within just a week, sales reach levels comparable to the pre-holiday levels. The leading Halloween candy among children is the Peanut Butter Cup from Reese's. Slightly over three-quarters of survey children chose Reese's Peanut Butter Cup when asked to pick one candy over others. During the 2022 Halloween season, U.S. consumer spending on Halloween candy was worth about 3.1 billion U.S. dollars. This was more than during the previous year and more than the pre-pandemic level of spending. After a downward trend between 2017 and 2020, sales in 2022 have risen for the second year in a row.

On Easter in 2015 and 2016, Americans purchased some 3.48 billion U.S. dollars of candy, a larger amount than any major U.S. holiday. In comparison, candy sales on Valentine’s Day amounted to only 2.79 billion U.S. dollars.

Leading Candy Companies in the U.S.

The two largest confectionary companies in the United States are Hershey and Mars, which both made up about a thirty percent share of the total U.S. confectionary market in 2017. Mondelez, which owns the brands Sour Patch Kids and Cadbury, accounted for a five percent share of the U.S. market in that year.

Holiday Candy in the U.S.

One of the most popular ways to celebrate a birthday or holiday in the United States is to give a gift of candy, especially on holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Candy sales tend to peak around major holidays in the United States. A 2019 survey found that Americans on average planned to spend around 20.78 U.S. dollars on candy on Easter, making it one of the top product categories associated with Easter celebrations.

This chart displays the sales channels that the French stated favoring during Halloween in a survey from 2017. It shows that almost 60 percent of the respondents said making their purchases at supermarkets or hypermarkets during this period.

Skittles were America’s favorite non-chocolate chewy candy in 2017, with sales in excess of 185 million U.S. dollars. After private label brands, Starburst and Sour Patch Kids were the next highest selling brands. Private brands nearly matched Skittles’ sales at 183 million dollars while Starburst and Sour Patch Kids brought in 162 million and 122 million respectively. Of the leading chewy candies, Skittles had the lowest level of growth, just 3.43 percent, a fraction of other brands.

History of Skittles

Skittles were first brought to market in 1974 by a British company and introduced to North America in 1979. Currently, the candy brand is produced by the Wrigley Company, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. The Wrigley Company was purchased by Mars in 2008 for 23 billion dollars. Mars is the leading confectionery company in the world, and one of largest private companies in the world.

Too much of a good thing?

Despite being a top seller, Skittles were the least favorite candy to receive for Halloween, according to respondents in a recent survey.

Halloween keeps on luring more and more people towards its festive and spooky spirit in the United Kingdom: since 2013, estimated UK consumer spending for Halloween products has quadrupled. In 2024, spending sat at a projected estimate of over 775 million British pounds, a jump from 2022, but a drop compared to the high projection of 2023. A holiday for celebrating all things horror, spooky, hilarious, and fun, Halloween traditions revolve around an industry that ranges from decoration to clothing, confectionery, and food. The popularity of Halloween in the U.S. Each and every year, Halloween is an important and multi-billion dollar retail event in the United States. On average, Halloween spending was estimated to reach a record high of nearly 105 U.S. dollars per person in 2024. Some of the North American country's most commonly visited stores for buying Halloween-related items included discount stores, online webshops, and special Halloween/costume stores. Smashing pumpkins During the scariest time of year, people buy tend to buy a variety of food products including chocolate, sweets for trick or treating, as well as pumpkins. Many people around the world and in the United States acquire pumpkins at this time in order to create Jack-o'-lanterns. In 2023, just over 154 million Americans planned to carve pumpkins for the Halloween season, which was a noticeable increase compared to the previous year.

This graph shows the sales of the leading snack size chocolate candy brands of the United States in 2017. Reese's, owned by The Hershey Company, was the top ranked snack size chocolate candy brand of the United States with about 171.6 million U.S. dollars worth of sales in 2017. In 2016, the Hershey Company generated approximately 7.44 billion U.S. dollars in net sales worldwide, accounting for approximately 7.2 percent of the global chocolate market.

Snack size chocolate candy

Snack size chocolate candy belongs to the overall chocolate category. Alternative terms used by the chocolate industry include ‘bite size candy’ or ‘fun size candy’. They are defined as chocolate products which come packaged in small portion sizes or are individually wrapped. They may be used as a single but special treat or can be shared as an indulgent snack with others. Marketers often promote their products by employing these attributes.

Consumers who walk down the retail aisles in the United States can find snack size chocolate candy brands such as Reese’s, Snickers, Kit Kat or Hershey’s. Reese’s are chocolate-coated peanut butter products and marketed in a broad variety. Fun sized products of the Reese’s portfolio include Reese’s Minis and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures. The brand is owned by the candy manufacturer The Hershey Company, which is headquartered in Hershey, PA.

Chocolate candy is a popular treat during the holiday season in the United States. One of the ‘sweetest’ holidays in the United States is Halloween at the end of October when children go from door to door trick-or-treating. Snack size chocolate candy comes in very handy and convenient sizes for children’s candy bags as they are individually wrapped. Manufacturers often offer seasonal packaging with products wrapped in Halloween colors or labeled with special holiday symbols.The National Confectioners Association recommends consuming candy moderately. For snack size chocolate candy they suggest for example two to four bite-sized chocolates as a daily amount, corresponding to about 90 calories.

The Hershey Company was the leading chocolate manufacturer in the United States in 2022 in terms of market share. The company held approximately 35.5 percent of the total market, with only Mars as a significant competitor for market leader. In terms of the total confectionery market, Mars has Hershey beat for largest market share, but only barely edged out their competitor by about 0.4 percent. Hershey’s history The Hershey Company was founded in 1894 by Milton Hershey and is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The town itself was largely built by Milton Hershey, and many places in the town bear the Hershey name, including Hershey’s Chocolate World and Hersheypark. Hershey’s Chocolatetown at Hersheypark was one of the largest construction projects in the United States as of January 2019, with a cost of 150 million dollars. Hershey’s popularity Hershey’s generous market share in the United States is due to the confectionery company’s popularity across brands. In a 2018 survey, three of the top four most popular chocolate brands among consumers were sold by Hershey. When it comes to Halloween candy, the company’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were the prized chocolate among trick-or-treaters of all ages.