Spiderman and witches top Halloween costume choices

Research by the NRF and Prosper Insights shows the top costumes ranked by category for children, adults and pets.

Over 2.2 million children plan to dress as Spiderman in the US for Halloween this year. While 1.9 million will be their favourite princess, over 1.6 million will dress up as a witch, and more than 1.3 million will be a ghost. Batman and other superheroes were tied for fifth place.

Children’s costumes

1 Spiderman
2 Princess
3 Witch
4 Ghost
5 Superhero/Batman
6 Pumpkin
7 Zombie
8 Vampire
9 Pirate
10 Spiderman

Of those adults planning to dress up for Halloween, 70% already know what their costume will be. Over 5.3 million plan to dress as a witch, more than 1.7m as a vampire, 1.5m as a ghost and 1.4m as a pirate. Tied for fifth place 1.2m each say they will dress as a cat or Batman.

Adults’ costumes

1 Witch
2 Vampire
3 Ghost
4 Pirate
5 Cat/Batman
6 Zombie
7 Spiderman
8 Dracula
9 Devil
10 Princess

The top costumes for pets were a pumpkin, a hot dog, a bat, a bumblebee and a witch.

Prosper Insights evp of strategy, Phil Rist, commented: “Social media is playing an increasingly important role in consumer behaviour, and Halloween is no different. Younger consumers, particularly those under the age of 25, will look to platforms like Instagram and TikTok for costume inspiration this year.”

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