Pet Costumes Hit $920 Million as Halloween Spending Climbs

Americans are on track to spend $13.5 billion on Halloween in 2026, and $920 million of that is set aside for pet costumes. The National Retail Federation, working with Prosper Insights & Analytics, released those figures on September 22 after polling 7,889 people from September 1 to 9.

Per-person spending is pegged at $115.14, barely above $114.45 in 2025. Shoppers say they will compare prices, clip coupons, and reuse décor. They also keep putting the dog in a pumpkin suit.

$13.5 Billion, With Shoppers Hunting for Deals

The new total holds near last year’s record of $13.1 billion. It is $1.3 billion above the $12.2 billion the same survey projected in 2023, the year the holiday first cleared $12 billion. A 2024 dip to $11.6 billion interrupted the climb, then spending jumped again in 2025.

Seventy-four percent of consumers plan to celebrate, next to 73% in 2025 and 68% in 2019. The most common plans are handing out candy (61%), dressing in costume (50%), decorating a home or yard (42%), carving pumpkins (42%), and watching scary movies (42%).

Candy is still the most widely bought item, with 96% of shoppers expected to spend $4.1 billion on sweets. Decorations are next at 78% and $4.3 billion. Costumes are expected to take $4.4 billion from 71% of shoppers. Greeting cards are the small print: 42% plan to buy them, up from 38% in 2025, for $800 million.

Consumers continue to make Halloween a spending priority, but they are also approaching the season with affordability in mind. For more than two decades, NRF’s Halloween survey has tracked how consumers celebrate the holiday, and this year’s results show that shoppers are being thoughtful and strategic, looking for ways to maximize value throughout the season.

Allison Zeller, NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights, September 22 release

If prices run hotter than expected, 31% say they will shop around and 26% will look for coupons or sales. Another 34% plan to buy items they can reuse later or repurpose for other occasions. The trade group’s own summary is that Halloween remains a priority, just one that now comes with a budget.

The Pet Aisle Now Outspends Greeting Cards

Buried under those four big buckets is a fifth number the release treats as color. Shoppers plan to spend $920 million dressing pets, more than the $800 million tagged for greeting cards. That pet line is also more than half of the $1.5 billion expected for children’s costumes.

The National Retail Federation said consumer spending on Halloween is expected to reach $13.5 billion this year, and it listed pets after kids and adults. The ranking in the press release does not match the money. Cards are a named category. Pets, at $920 million, are larger.

A 2025 MetLife Pet Insurance poll of 1,000 cat and dog owners helps explain why the line is sticky. Fifty-three percent of those owners bought a costume. One in five spent over $50 on a single outfit, and the average outlay was about $30. Nearly a third spent more on their pet’s outfit than on their own. Millennials led at 57%, then Gen Z at 55%. Twenty-seven percent said they bought the costume for an Instagram or other social post.

That is a different shopper from the one clipping a candy coupon. Pet retail, costume makers, and the photo economy around dogs in buns have a direct claim on a slice of Halloween that used to read as a gag.

$700 Million Became $920 Million

The pet number did not rise in a straight line. In the 2023 survey it was $700 million, “in line with last year.” In 2024, when total Halloween spending fell to $11.6 billion, pet costumes stayed at $700 million. The 2025 survey then put the line at $860 million. The 2026 figure is $920 million, up $60 million from 2025 and $220 million from the flat $700 million of 2023 and 2024.

Total Halloween spending over that same span went from $12.2 billion to $13.5 billion. The pet costume aisle moved faster than the holiday around it, and it did not give ground in the one down year.

HALLOWEEN SPENDING, 2023 TO 2026

The 2025 survey also found that 23% of consumers planned to dress up their pets, a figure the 2026 release does not repeat. What it does repeat is the spend. For PetSmart, Chewy, and the seasonal racks at discounters, that $920 million is a planogram, not a punch line.

What Are the Most Popular Pet Halloween Costumes?

Pumpkin is first again. In the 2026 survey, 11.6% of pet costumes are pumpkins, 5.9% are hot dogs, and 2.8% are ghosts. That is the same one-two that showed up in 2023, when pumpkin led at 11% and hot dog at 7%, with bat at 4% and bumblebee and spider tied at 3%.

PET COSTUME SHARE IN THE NRF SURVEY

• 2026: Pumpkin 11.6%, hot dog 5.9%, ghost 2.8%.
• 2025: Pumpkin 9.8%, hot dog 5.4%, bumblebee 4%, ghost 3.1%, superhero 3.1%.
• 2024: Pumpkin 10%, hot dog 6%, bat 4%, ghost 3%, bumblebee 3%.
• 2023: Pumpkin 11%, hot dog 7%, bat 4%, bumblebee 3%, spider 3%.

Pumpkin’s share dipped in 2024 and 2025, then jumped to 11.6% in 2026, the highest of the four years. Hot dog never left second. Ghost, which sat in a tie in 2025, is the only new name in the 2026 top three. The looks that sell are still the cheap, readable ones: orange gourd, bun with mustard, white sheet.

The MetLife work found a messier backyard. Forty-three percent of those owners said the pet destroyed or damaged the outfit. Forty-six percent had bought a last-minute costume that did not fit or never got worn. Twenty-two percent regretted the purchase. One in four said a pet ate Halloween candy or chocolate, and 5% ended up in emergency vet care at an average cost of $150. The $920 million is not all joy. A share of it is a one-wear item that gets shredded before the porch light goes off.

Spider-Man Leads the Kids’ List Again

Children’s costumes are expected to take $1.5 billion. Comic characters dominate: 4.6 million kids are expected to dress as Spider-Man, twice the 2.3 million in the 2025 survey, and 2.3 million as a generic superhero. Next are 2.2 million as a princess, then 1.6 million as a witch and 1.6 million as a ghost.

Adult costumes are expected to take $2 billion. Classics still rule that aisle, with 4.8 million planning to go as a witch and 4.2 million as a vampire. Batman follows at 2 million, Spider-Man at 1.5 million, and ghost at 1.4 million. Witch counts are lower than the 5.6 million in 2025. Vampire counts are higher than the 2.7 million that year.

Kids, adults, and pets together are the costume story. Pets at $920 million sit closer to children’s $1.5 billion than anyone browsing a Spirit Halloween wall might guess. The human ranking still moves with movies and comics. The pet ranking barely moves at all.

Discount Stores Still Get the First Stop

Discount stores remain the top place to buy Halloween goods, named by 39% of shoppers, down from 42% in 2025. Specialty Halloween and costume stores follow at 32%, then online at 27%. Local and small shops are at 13%, almost double the 7% recorded in 2016.

Forty-nine percent of consumers say they will start shopping in September or earlier, matching 2025 and up from 34% in 2016. Among those early shoppers, 42% say they look forward to fall, 34% call Halloween one of their favorite holidays, 23% want to spread the cost, and 21% say the prices and deals were too good to skip.

The Halloween & Costume Association, citing the same NRF and Prosper work, says costume-wearing adults shop in September at an even higher clip: 57% of that group start in September or earlier, and 40% buy costumes first. That is a narrower slice than the NRF’s all-shopper 49%, and it is why racks are out before the calendar flips.

HOW SHOPPERS SAY THEY WILL HOLD THE LINE

• Reuse later: 34% plan to buy items they can use again or shift to other settings.
• Compare prices: 31% will shop around if Halloween goods cost more than they expected.
• Hunt deals: 26% will look for coupons or sales.

Those three answers sit in the same survey as a $920 million pet-costume plan. The value talk is real. It has not, so far, taken the pumpkin suit out of the cart.

Nearly Half of Shoppers Are Using AI Tools

The new question in the 2026 annual Halloween consumer survey is software. Forty-seven percent of consumers say they are using AI platforms and tools for Halloween shopping. Top uses are brainstorming ideas while planning (34%) and asking for recommendations during product research (32%).

Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy, said many shoppers are using the tools to brainstorm costumes and decorating themes, explore options, and find inspiration. Online searches are still the leading source of costume ideas at 32%, but that share is down from 37% in 2025 and is the lowest in a decade. Retail stores and costume shops are second for costumes at 26%, and they lead for decoration ideas at 31%.

The federation posted the headline numbers the day the release went out.

🎃 Halloween spending is expected to reach $13.5 billion this year, with consumers planning to spend an average of $115 on costumes, candy, decorations and more. https://t.co/5ABujtWJNz pic.twitter.com/6ozeoGIFTf

— National Retail Federation (@NRFnews) September 22, 2026

The survey has run since 2005. This year’s edition carries a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points. The $13.5 billion headline will be what most recaps keep. The $920 million pet line is the one that kept growing when the rest of Halloween wobbled in 2024, and it is already larger than cards. Pumpkin is still first, at 11.6%, with hot dog at 5.9%. The suits are on the shelf. October will show whether the coupon talk cuts that aisle, or whether $920 million was the conservative number.