Americans Spend A Pretty Absurd Amount On Halloween Candy Every Year

When you're deciding how much candy to buy for Halloween this year, just know that you are representing a teeny-tiny part of a big business, even if you think you got a big haul. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers are predicted to spend no less than $3.9 billion on sweet treats for Halloween 2025. An estimated 66% of those surveyed stated that they planned on handing out candy this Halloween, whether at the front door to trick-or-treaters, at trunk-or-treat events, or at house parties. The typical Halloween reveler will spend $104 this Halloween, with a third of that budget being allocated for candy.

The reasons we eat candy on Halloween have to do with the innocent origins of the trick-or-treat tradition — it was meant to keep mischievous kids out of trouble — and the rise of packaged snacks after World War II temporarily imposed consumer bans on sugar. Today, there are a lot more treats than tricks being handed out! Plain M&M's and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups remain the most craveable candies in the bowl, but you needn't feel limited ... just take a look at our hot-off-the-presses list of the most popular Halloween candies for 2025, which includes trendy treats like peelable gummies, Dubai chocolate, and spicy novelties. Whether you spend a little or really splurge on your trick-or-treat bounty (those pistachio-stuffed chocolate bars can get costly!), your own contribution to the Halloween economy isn't just a matter of decimals in an equation but a stake in holiday spending that is second only to Christmas.

Candy isn't the only Halloween expenditure for consumers, who show signs of celebrating this holiday with increasing gusto every year. In 2025, it's predicted that overall Halloween spending will reach $13.1 billion. That figure has skyrocketed in the last 20 years — in 2010, Americans only spent an estimated $5.8 billion on Halloween. So-called "Halloween creep" is an observable retail phenomenon, with stores putting out seasonal merch earlier and earlier, and consumers decorating their homes on a timeline that would have been considered premature not too long ago. 

"Spooky season," as social media users are apt to call it, now covers all of September and October and encompasses seasonal activities like watching horror movies, visiting pumpkin patches, leaf-peeping, and strolling through Spirit Halloween stores. Halloween lovers have even discovered a new fascination with "Summerween," an occasion tied to the animated T.V. show "Gravity Falls," which, as the name suggests, is celebrated with Halloween-like activities in the dead of June.

All indicators seem to point to Halloween being a juggernaut that will only continue to grow. As October approaches, the majority of consumers will happily open their wallets and shell out big bucks on costumes, décor, party favors ... and, yes, candy. Whether you plan to fill vases with candy corn, eat yourself silly on fun-sized Snickers bars, or dole out goody bags to the local ghouls and goblins ringing your doorbell on October 31st, your Halloween candy haul is a tiny microcosm of a national obsession.