Economy

Halloween Candy Spending per Household at $30.60

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: October 28, 2016 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 1:48 am

Candy companies will have a good Halloween, as will trick-or-treaters. According to new research, the average household will spend $30.60 for Halloween candy.

IHS Markit reports on Halloween spending:

Americans are likely to spend billions on Halloween candy, costumes, and other creepy paraphernalia this year. Spending on Halloween candy is expected to increase by 5.5 percent this year, the strongest rise since 2011 and is expected to reach $3.8 billion, $30.60 per household.

It is too small a sum to use as a gauge of consumer sentiment or consumer spending. Economists will need to wait until the upcoming year-end holidays for that.

Also, a tiny downtick in the price of candy may be part of the reason household spending has ticked up:

This year’s Halloween prices will not be scary. IHS Global Insight is forecasting 2016 Halloween candy prices to drop 0.4% compared to last year, the first decline since 2013. In the run-up to this year’s Halloween season, US sugar prices have been a mixed bag due to changes in trade policies and demand for non-GMO sugar. Sugar beet (mostly GMO) sourced sugar is running at a discount to sugar cane based sugar.

The research does not say much about the “supply” of people who go out to beg for candy on Halloween. The baby boomers are too old to make the effort of drifting or running from door to door.