Americans are forecast to spend a record $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, driven by elevated prices across costumes, candy and shipping, according to the National Retail Federation. The NRF expects consumers to spend $400 million more on Halloween in 2026 than in 2025, and $1.9 billion more than in 2024. Candy alone will account for $4.1 billion of the total spending. A survey by consulting firm PwC found that the average person expects to spend about $263, though parents typically spend more because they shop for multiple Halloween events. Despite the record spending, two-thirds of Americans think Halloween has become too expensive, according to a survey from WalletHub.
Chocolate prices are expected to be 8% higher than last Halloween, according to the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute. A 100-piece bag of assorted Halloween candy costs an average of $16.96 in 2026, up 3.5% from the previous year and 71% higher than in 2021, according to FinanceBuzz. Major candy makers have raised prices significantly: Mondelez, which makes Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish, raised prices on gummy candy packs 39%, while Ferrero, whose brands include Butterfinger, Crunch and Baby Ruth, raised chocolate pack prices nearly 19%. The higher prices reflect a lagging effect from the cocoa market. Although cocoa prices have fallen from record highs in 2024 and 2025, candy makers are still using cocoa purchased during the 2025 price spikes, according to economists. In 2025, heat waves and heavy rains linked to climate change affected cocoa crops in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, which supply most of the world's cocoa, contributing to shortages and price spikes.
Costume prices have risen due to higher transportation and fulfillment costs. Cortland Hickey, general manager of Chicago Costume, told CBS News that tariff costs are built into products and that fuel surcharges and diesel costs are now the primary drivers of price increases for products received on pallets and truckloads. Online shopping for Halloween costumes has become less popular this year, with 27% of consumers planning to shop online, down from 31% in 2025, according to the NRF. Shoppers ordering costumes online risk paying more for rush shipping or receiving items after Halloween if they wait until the last minute.
Some candy makers have adjusted formulations to manage costs. Rather than using traditional cocoa ingredients in milk chocolate, some producers have replaced them with cheaper alternatives such as vegetable oil. Products that no longer meet federal criteria for milk chocolate, which requires at least 10% cocoa mass and solids, can be labeled as chocolate candy, chocolatey or chocolate coating instead. Hershey's faced criticism earlier this year for changing Reese's classic recipe in certain seasonal products to use less chocolate but said it will revert to original recipes in 2027.
Consumers are adjusting their shopping behaviour to manage costs. About half of shoppers said they started shopping in September or earlier to spread out expenses and search for deals, according to the NRF. Phil Lempert, editor of the Lempert Report and a consumer behaviour analyst, recommended that shoppers look online for better deals on candy, particularly on Amazon, and compare prices per piece or per pound on variety packs, as some chocolate assortments cost nearly twice as much as bags of gummy candy. For costumes, Hickey suggested prioritising items shoppers are less likely to already own, such as specific wigs, face paints and props. Lempert expects Halloween-related costs to continue rising through 2027 and probably 2028, citing the impact of climate change on global cocoa prices and higher fuel prices.