Brits Vote to Remain With Halloween: The UK Will Spend Over £690m Celebrating, According to VoucherCodes

New research today reveals how Brits will be celebrating Halloween, revealing that the nation will spend a total of £690m embracing the spooky spirit this year.

     (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/776912/VoucherCodes_Halloween_Infographic.jpg )

VoucherCodes, the leading savings site, discovered that the average parent will spend at least £42.15 celebrating Halloween with their family this year - spending slightly more on their own costume than their children's. Adults will spend an average of £12.30 on a costume for themselves, £8.15 on sweets and £9.80 on decorations - and those with children will spend an additional £11.90 on each of their children's costumes.

Costumes 

The most popular costume this year is a controversial character from across the pond. A fifth (19%) think that President Donald Trump will be 2018's most popular costume. Meanwhile, a quarter think witches (27%) and vampires (25%) are a thing of the past as the most overused costumes.

   
    Most popular costumes for Halloween 2018

    Donald Trump                     19%
    Fortnite                         14%
    Pennywise                        11%
    Unicorn                          10%
    Deadpool                         10%

A fifth (18%) of 16-24 year olds plan on dressing up as a character from this year's most popular video game, Fortnite. For kids, it's Marvel who lead the charge with 4 out of 10 (41%) children wanting to dress up as Marvel characters compared to just 1 in 4 (26%) kids preferring their favourite DC heroes such as Superman and Batman. This is in sharp contrast for adults, with DC's Wonder Woman (20%) being the most popular costume among mums going trick or treating with their children.

Trick or treat? 

Half (51%) of Brits are in favour of celebrating Halloween, with just a quarter (26%) actively disliking the holiday. However, more people are planning to spend the night with their lights switched off pretending they're not home (42%) than to head out trick or treating (32%) this year. This means almost half the houses across the country are leaving themselves vulnerable to a crowd of ghosts and goblins. Worryingly, two-thirds (63%) of children confess they've 'tricked' a house for not handing out sweets at Halloween!

Almost half of children say their favourite treats are chocolate bars (46%) or Haribo (46%) which are more popular than the pricier Halloween-themed chocolate (22%), cupcakes (17%) or biscuits (12%). For kids wanting to give a nasty surprise, the research has found that clown costumes (28%) are what adults are most afraid of.

   
    Children's most popular treats for Halloween 2018

    Chocolate bars                   46%
    Haribo                           46%
    Sour sweets                      24%
    Drumstick lollipops              22%
    Halloween themed chocolate       22%

How to celebrate Halloween 

Carving a pumpkin is as popular among adults (60%) as it is with children (57%) for a great, affordable family activity at home. Similarly, there is a desire for DIY costume making with a third of adults (32%) saying it's something they're looking forward to trying in the future and 1 in 3 (32%) children saying it's a task they've enjoyed in the past.

   
    Children's most popular ways to celebrate Halloween

    Go trick or treating             62%
    Carve a pumpkin                  57%
    Buy a costume                    50%
    Attend a Halloween party         42%
    Make a DIY costume               32%

The majority (51%) of adults say they will be celebrating Halloween by watching a scary movie this year, while almost half (47%) of 16-34 year olds would love to attend a Halloween party.

Anita Naik, Lifestyle Editor at VoucherCodes, said: "Halloween is a fantastic time for families to come together, with children dressing up as their favourite heroes and villains from the year.

"However, it's scary that parents will be spending over £40 celebrating the occasion buying costumes, sweets and decorations. You don't have to spend a fortune if you are celebrating on October 31^st, over on the VoucherCodes blog we've pooled our collective money-saving expertise to show you how to do everything from costumes to parties without busting your budget. Hopefully this research will help guide families to ensure that money is spent wisely - and there's no nasty tricks up anyone's sleeves this Halloween!"

Notes to Editors: 

VoucherCodes surveyed 2,007 people across the country to discover how the nation will be celebrating Halloween this year, Censuswide, October 2018.