To counteract a spooky economy, America prepares to spend on Halloween candy

Chocolate prices are up 9.4% overall from a year ago, the market research firm NIQ found.Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald via Getty ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleOct. 11, 2026, 8:00 AM EDTBy Kayla SteinbergThis Halloween, the fright isn’t just at the haunted house. Rising prices for everything from groceries to gas are driving many consumers to cut back.

“I’m walking to save a little bit of money,” said Lakisha Reardon, a legal assistant. “I’m bringing in my own lunch.”

Reardon said she has especially seen her electric bill spike this year. She said she is paying an extra $150 every month.

“I’m ready to invest in candles,” she said.

But one thing she won’t give up? Halloween candy.

Average prices for chewing gum and candy have soared 8.1% over the last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite the higher prices, Americans are still buying treats.

“I remember being a little kid and being super excited when I would get Reese’s Cups,” said Abby Mynatt, a college student who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. “I want to give that to some other children.”

Mynatt, 21, said she usually spends around $50 for Halloween candy. She is expecting to shell out a bit more money this year despite financial pressures.

“I certainly think there are a little more tense things with my budget right now,” she said. “But I still think that certain things, even just little pleasures, are still worth it.”

The price of non-chocolate candy items has averaged $3.31 this year, up 1.8% from last year, according to PwC. But Halloween chocolate prices have jumped 15.5%, to an average of $5.67 per package.

Industry experts attribute the rise in chocolate prices partly to a cocoa shock over the last couple years.

Extreme weather in key cocoa-producing countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana sent global cocoa prices soaring — they quadrupled from January 2023 to January 2025, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.

“Because chocolate makers buy cocoa months, sometimes up to two years ahead, shoppers are paying for that spike now,” said Ali Furman, PwC’s Consumer Markets Industry leader. “Cocoa prices have since fallen by about half, but lower costs take time to reach the shelf and won’t show up on shelves this Halloween season.”

The market research firm NIQ has seen a more muted increase in prices, with chocolate overall up 9.4% from a year ago but Halloween-specific chocolate just up 1.7%.

Analysts say tariffs this year aren’t helping, either. In July, the U.S. imposed tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 trade partners.

“Chocolate comes from elsewhere, so tariffs being added onto it have certainly increased costs that manufacturers are feeling as well,” said Chris Costagli, the leader of food and non-alcoholic beverage insights at NIQ.

Still, the National Retail Federation projects that Halloween spending will soar to $13.5 billion this season, with 96% of Halloween shoppers expecting to buy sweets.

With wages up just 3% over the same period, paychecks aren’t keeping up with prices.

It has led many people to forgo bigger purchases and cut back in small ways every day.

Leonard Smith is planning to buy Halloween candy this year, but says he may cut back.

“I don’t want to spend that much money because I need money for other things besides candy,” said Smith, 36, who lives in Delaware.

But he has a strategy to save: Smith buys candy after Halloween when many stores slash prices.

Ari Monahan, a nanny who describes herself as “like a Disney adult, but for Halloween,” said she may get candy that’s a little less expensive, but she still wants to treat the kids in her New York City neighborhood.

“I want to be the good house,” she said. “There’s not that many kids in my area, so I want to give them a little prize for coming.”

Monahan, 30, also buys little treats for herself. “Dark chocolate, a lot of coffees, anything pumpkin spice,” she said.

“If it makes me smile and I have a little money, I’ll pay for it because everything is so grim right now,” she added. “A pair of socks with dachshunds on it, I’m like, ‘You know what? I can do that. I could swing it today.’”

Monahan says rising prices are taking a big bite out of her paycheck, and she worries she might never be able to buy a house.

Home prices are near record highs, and mortgage rates have spiked over the course of the war with Iran — with the 30-year fixed topping 7.6% earlier this month, a nearly 3-year high. It’s a double whammy that is putting a key pillar of the American dream further out of reach for many people.

And yet in an economy where the big things might seem far away, there are always little treats to get by.

“I’ve been in a real ‘buy yourself little treats’ mentality,” said Monahan. “I keep buying too much stuff for my dog. I guess I didn’t buy another dog. That’s saving, right?”

ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleKayla SteinbergKayla Steinberg is a producer at NBC News covering business and the economy.