Top 2016 Halloween Trends

The list

1. 01

   Action / Superhero

   Children's list; dethroned Princess after 11-year reign

2. 02

   Princess

   Children's list

3. 03

   Animal (Cat, Dog, Lion, Monkey, etc.)

   Children's list

4. 04

   Batman Character

   Children's list

5. 05

   Star Wars Character

   Children's list

6. 06

   Witch / DC Superhero (excl. Batman)

   Children's list, tied pairing

7. 07

   Frozen Character (Anna, Elsa, Olaf)

   Children's list

8. 08

   Marvel Superhero (excl. Spider-Man)

   Children's list

9. 09

   Zombie

   Children's list, tie at ninth and tenth

10. 10

    Spider-Man

    Children's list, tie at ninth and tenth

11. 01

    Batman Character (Batman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, etc.)

    Adults 18-34 list

12. 02

    Witch

    Adults 18-34 list

13. 03

    Animal (Cat, Dog, Bunny, etc.)

    Adults 18-34 list

14. 04

    Marvel Superhero (Deadpool, Spider-Man, etc.) / DC Superhero (Wonder Woman, Superman, excl. Batman)

    Adults 18-34 list, tied pairing

15. 05

    Vampire

    Adults 18-34 list

16. 06

    Video Game Character

    Adults 18-34 list

17. 07

    Slasher Movie Villain (Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, etc.)

    Adults 18-34 list

18. 08

    Pirate

    Adults 18-34 list

19. 09

    Star Wars Character

    Adults 18-34 list, tie at ninth and tenth

20. 10

    Zombie

    Adults 18-34 list, tie at ninth and tenth

21. 01

    Witch

    Adults 35+ list

22. 02

    Pirate

    Adults 35+ list

23. 03

    Political (Trump, Clinton, etc.)

    Adults 35+ list, trending strongly

24. 04

    Vampire

    Adults 35+ list

25. 05

    Batman Character (Batman, Catwoman, etc.)

    Adults 35+ list

26. 06

    Animal (Cat, Dog, Bunny, etc.)

    Adults 35+ list

27. 07

    DC Superhero (Superman, Wonder Woman, excl. Batman) / Star Wars Character

    Adults 35+ list, tied pairing

28. 08

    Ghost / Zombie

    Adults 35+ list, tied pairing

29. 09

    Scary Costume / Mask

    Adults 35+ list, tie at ninth and tenth

30. 10

    Marvel Superhero (Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, etc.)

    Adults 35+ list, tie at ninth and tenth

31. 01

    Pumpkin

    Pet list, perennial favorite

32. 02

    Hot Dog

    Pet list, perennial favorite

33. 03

    Bumble Bee

    Pet list

34. 04

    Lion / Star Wars Character

    Pet list; Lion rose from 16th in 2015

35. 05

    Devil

    Pet list

36. 06

    Batman Character

    Pet list

37. 07

    Witch

    Pet list

38. 08

    Superman

    Pet list

39. 09

    Action / Superhero

    Pet list, tie at ninth and tenth

40. 10

    Cat

    Pet list, tie at ninth and tenth

Facts from the original

• Halloween spending expected to reach $8.4 billion in 2016, an all-time high for NRF surveys.
• More than 171 million Americans planned to celebrate Halloween in 2016.
• Average planned spend per shopper was $82.93, up from $74.34 the prior year.
• Total Halloween spending has grown 12% year over year.
• Historical total Halloween spending by year: 2005 $3.3B, 2006 $5B, 2007 $5.1B, 2008 $5.8B, 2009 $4.8B, 2010 $5.8B, 2011 $6.9B, 2012 $8B, 2013 $7B, 2014 $7.4B, 2015 $6.9B, 2016 $8.4B.
• 67% of the average Halloween budget goes to costumes and candy.
• 2016 average spends: costumes $31.03, candy $24.43, decorations $23.62, greeting cards $3.84.
• Percent of people planning to celebrate: 52.5% (2005), 63.8% (2006), 58.7% (2007), 64.5% (2008), 62.1% (2009), 63.8% (2010), 68.6% (2011), 71.5% (2012), 65.8% (2013), 66.7% (2014), 64.0% (2015), 69.1% (2016).
• Celebration activities in 2016: hand out candy 70.9%, decorate home/yard 48.6%, dress in costume 47.1%, carve a pumpkin 45.5%, throw/attend a party 34.1%, take children trick-or-treating 29.7%, visit a haunted house 20.9%, dress your pet in costume 16.2%.
• Handing out candy was the number one activity for 2016.
• Growth in popularity, 2016 versus the 12-year average: dress in costume +7.3%, dress your pet in costume +2.1%, throw/attend a party +2.6%, hand out candy -1.5%, carve a pumpkin +1.0%, visit a haunted house +1.4%, take children trick-or-treating -1.9%, decorate home/yard +0.3%.
• More people dressed themselves and their pets in costumes than at any point over the past 12 years.
• Costume inspiration sources: retail store or costume shop 34.6%, online search 29.1%, Pinterest 28.4%, Facebook 19.3%, friends/family 17.3%, pop culture 16.5%, YouTube 15.5%, print media 14.4%, Instagram 11.9%, current events 9.3%, habit/same costume each year 7.7%, Twitter 6.1%, blogs 5.4%, other 3.3%, does not apply/will not wear 3.0%.
• Pinterest saw 133% growth as a costume-influence source in the last four years.
• Where consumers shop for Halloween: discount store 46.7%, specialty Halloween/costume store 36.4%, grocery store/supermarket 25.7%, department store 23.4%, online 21.8%, craft or fabric store 13.0%, thrift store/resale shop 10.3%, clothing store 10.2%, drug store 9.4%, home décor store 8.9%, greeting card/gift store 7.7%, local/small business 7.1%, home improvement store 5.0%, other 4.8%, catalog 3.6%.
• Largest shopping-channel growth since last year: home improvement stores +32.1%, online +26.1%, department stores +22%.
• Women are more likely to decorate home/yard (56.3% vs 40.5%), have costume inspired by Pinterest (23.0% vs 9.6%), start shopping in September (37.1% vs 30.7%), and dress pets in costume (19.2% vs 13.1%).
• Men are more likely to spend more money ($88.05 vs $78.07), have costume inspired by YouTube (14.5% vs 9.4%), throw/attend a party (36.4% vs 31.9%), and begin shopping in the last two weeks of October (24.6% vs 18.8%).
• Action/Superhero costumes overtook Princess as the top children's choice, ending an 11-year reign.
• The superhero trend is driven especially by 18-34 year olds, among whom slasher movie costumes are also popular.
• Adults over 35 prefer classic costumes such as witches, pirates and vampires, with political costumes trending strongly.
• Lion pet costumes rose to 4th place in 2016 from 16th in 2015.