Halloween spending estimated to fall 6.8 percent

The National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey estimates consumers will spend $6.9 billion on the holiday this year, down 6.8 percent from its $7.4 billion estimate last year.

According to the survey of over 6,700 consumers conducted Sept. 1-8 by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average person plans to spend $74.34 for Halloween, down from $77.52 last year.

The NRF predicts over 157 million Americans will celebrate the holiday, according to a news release.

The largest portion of spending - at $2.5 billion - is expected to be spent on store-bought and homemade costumes. At $1.2 billion, the most would be spent on adult costumes, while $950 million would be spent on children’s costumes and $350 million on pet costumes.

According to the NRF, 93.7 percent of Halloween shoppers will buy candy, spending an estimated $2.1 billion, and 33.5 percent would spend $330 million on greeting cards, according to the release.

As to when customers will spend money on Halloween, 34.1 percent of survey respondents said they’d start shopping before Oct. 1, up from 32.1 percent last year. In the survey, 40.9 percent responded they would do their shopping in the first half of the month and 25 percent said they’d wait until the final weeks of October.