CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released new data on Halloween 2025, sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of over 5,000 consumers on their Q4 2025 holiday intentions. Overall, just over half (56%) of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween, with participation even higher among Gen Z and Millennial consumers. The majority plan to decorate their homes, hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, and complete their Halloween shopping in-store rather than online.
Numerator Survey Findings:
- Just over half of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween 2025. 56% of U.S. consumers say they will celebrate Halloween this year, with participation highest among Gen Z & Millennials (71%).
- Celebrators plan to decorate their homes and hand out candy. The most popular celebration plans this year are to decorate the house (56%) and hand out candy or other items to trick-or-treaters (56%). Decorating is most popular among Boomers+ (60%) and consumers in the Northeast (62%).
- Candy tops the Halloween shopping list. Among Halloween celebrators, 81% plan to purchase candy, followed by decorations (49%), food (44%), costumes or apparel (39%), alcoholic beverages (21%), and party supplies (15%).
- Chocolate leads among trick-or-treat offerings. Among those handing out items, 78% plan to give chocolate candy, while 52% said they would give fruity or sour candy, and 36% would hand out other sweets.
- Gen Z & Millennials are the most likely generations to opt for non-food items. 17% of Halloween celebrators said they plan to hand out small toys or trinkets (e.g. stickers, glow sticks, pencils), with Gen Z & Millennials over 1.5x more likely to do so (28%).
- Clean-label candy gains traction. One in four Halloween celebrators (25%) say they actively avoid candy with artificial colors and dyes, while 37% said they are not really concerned about these ingredients when it comes to candy.
- Halloween buyers prefer to do their shopping in person. 62% of celebrators say they will do most or all their shopping in-store, compared to just 11% who will shop mostly online. Top destinations include big box stores like Walmart or Target (61%), grocery stores (43%), discount or dollar stores (38%), online retailers (32%), specialty retailers like Spirit Halloween or Hobby Lobby (17%), and local shops or small businesses (15%).
- Halloween spending expectations remain steady. 50% of celebrators said they plan to spend the same amount for Halloween this year compared to last year, with 19% saying they will spend more and 22% saying they will spend less.
- Half of celebrators expect tariffs to impact their Halloween shopping. 20% of celebrators say tariffs will significantly impact their Halloween shopping, 17% expect a moderate impact, and 13% expect a slight impact.
Numerator Purchase Data Findings:
- Chocolate dominates candy spending. According to Numerator purchase data from verified buyers (latest 12 months ending 8/31/25), chocolate accounts for the majority of candy spend across all generations, led by Boomers+, who allocate 62% of their candy dollars to chocolate and 29% to non-chocolate candy. Millennials and Gen Z dedicate a greater share to non-chocolate varieties (37% and 36%, respectively).
- Reese’s, M&M’s, Hershey’s, Snickers, and Kit Kat lead in household penetration, though generational preferences differ. Nerds break into the top 5 brands among Gen Z (43.2%) and Millennials (50.8%), while Sour Patch (50.3%) and Haribo (49.4%) also over-index with Millennials. Boomers+ favor more traditional options, including Hershey’s Kisses (42.9%), Lindt (38.3%), Russell Stover (37.2%), and Almond Joy/Mounds (36%), which do not appear in younger generations’ top 10.
- Gen X is the most engaged with the candy category, while Gen Z is the least. Gen X is more likely to purchase nearly all major brands than any other generation, while Gen Z is less engaged with lower household penetration for many brands.
Top 10 Candy Brands by Generation
Percentage of generation buying, L12M ending 8/31/2025
| Rank | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers+ |
| 1 | Reese's (65.2%) | Reese's (73.6%) | Reese's (81.8%) | Reese's (76.3%) |
| 2 | Private Label (64%) | Private Label (71%) | M&M's (76.6%) | Private Label (76%) |
| 3 | Hershey's (61.4%) | M&M's (66.3%) | Private Label (76.5%) | M&M's (74.1%) |
| 4 | M&M's (60.5%) | Hershey's (66.1%) | Hershey's (74.4%) | Hershey's (73.3%) |
| 5 | Nerds (43.2%) | Nerds (50.8%) | Snickers (61.4%) | Snickers (56%) |
| 6 | Kit Kat (42.9%) | Sour Patch (50.3%) | Kit Kat (52.2%) | Kit Kat (45%) |
| 7 | Snickers (42.7%) | Haribo (49.4%) | Haribo (50.5%) | Hershey's Kisses (42.9%) |
| 8 | Sour Patch (41.7%) | Snickers (49.2%) | Sour Patch (48.9%) | Lindt (38.3%) |
| 9 | Haribo (39.8%) | Skittles (47.9%) | Skittles (48.2%) | Russell Stover (37.2%) |
| 10 | Skittles (38.2%) | Kit Kat (46.8%) | Twix (48.2%) | Almond Joy/Mounds (36%) |
Numerator’s Q4 2025 Holiday Preview survey was fielded to 5,006 U.S. consumers in October 2025 and highlights consumers’ celebration, shopping and spending plans for five key holidays occurring in October, November, and December 2025. Over 1,000 shoppers shared details of their Halloween plans. Purchase data was compiled using Numerator’s Total Commerce Panel, looking at candy sales during the last 12M (ending 8/31/2025).
About Numerator:
Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research. Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 5,400 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.
Bob Richter Numerator 212-802-8588 press@numerator.com
