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Halloween statistics UK | 2021

How much do British people spend on their spooky celebrations every year? Find the latest Halloween statistics here.

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Georgia-Rose Johnson
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Whether you don a scary outfit, buy sweets for trick-or-treaters or perhaps even trick-or-treat yourself, there’s no escaping Halloween as October draws to a close each year. We looked into how much money is spent on Halloween in the UK each year and what Halloween products are making our money disappear. Find out the latest Halloween statistics here.

The latest Halloween statistics

How big is Halloween in the UK?

  • In 2021, Brits are expected to spend £25.1 million on pumpkins for Halloween, 15% less than last year’s spend of £29.7 million.
  • In 2020, a quarter (25%) of Brits bought a pumpkin for Halloween.
  • The average price of a pumpkin in 2021 is now £1.47, 27p less than 2020’s average of £1.74.
  • Halloween spending is estimated to total £607 million in 2021 and £687 million in 2022.

How much will we spend on pumpkins?

In 2020, a quarter of Brits (25%) said they would buy a pumpkin for Halloween, this means that over 17 million pumpkins were bought. The total cost of this in 2020 was £29.7 million. A combination of rising prices and a slight growth in the UK’s population means that this figure increased by £4.6 million since 2017 (it was £25.1 million then). Using these figures, we estimate that the total spend will return to the value of £25.1 million in 2021, rising slightly in 2022 with a projected spend of £25.4 million.

Year Average cost per pumpkin UK spend on pumpkins
2017 £1.51 £25,067,111
2018 £1.52 £27,330,870
2019 £1.72 £29,154,212
2020 £1.74 £29,666,437
2021 £1.47 £25,166,128
2022* £1.48 £25,408,720

How much do we spend on Halloween in the UK?

Estimated Halloween spending rose steadily between 2013 and 2016, from £230 million to £310 million. The following year then saw a big spike in spending, which rose by almost a third to £400 million, before a modest increase to £419 million in 2018. In 2019, it was estimated that spending would reach £474 million and £536 million in 2020.

By averaging the percentage increase over those 7 years, we can expect Halloween spending in 2021 to be around £607 million, rising to a projected price of £687 million in 2022.

Year Amount spent (millions)
2013 £230
2014 £275
2015 £295
2016 £310
2017 £400
2018 £419
2019 £474
2020* £536
2021* £607
2022* £687
2023* £777

How many Brits believe in ghosts?

For some people, ghosts are more than just an option for a Halloween outfit. Surprisingly, over half (59%) of 18- to 24-year-olds either believe in or are unsure whether ghosts exist. At the other end of the spectrum, those aged 55+ are the least likely to believe in ghosts, although with only 53% not believing in them, this means that 47% still think that ghosts either maybe or definitely do exist.

Age Yes No Maybe
18–24 39% 41% 20%
35–54 35% 44% 21%
55+ 26% 53% 21%

How to carve the best jack-o’-lantern

How to make the most out of your pumpkin

18,000 tonnes of pumpkin are thrown away each year (equivalent to 360 million portions of pumpkin pie). If you’re spending the money on a pumpkin, you may as well get the most out of your money, right? Here are some cost-saving ways you can reduce waste this Halloween:

  • Make pumpkin soup. This is a warm, delicious dish that can be made in a variety of ways. Whether you make it creamy with roasted pumpkins or with chilli and Thai coconut, there’s a flavour for everyone!
  • Create tasty pumpkin seeds. Scoop out the seeds, remove any pumpkin flesh still attached and then rinse them off. Place the seeds on a baking tray and add some olive oil and any additional ingredients you desire (e.g. salt, chilli), then mix the whole lot together. Bake the seeds in the oven until lightly golden brown. Yum!
  • Use the remains as compost. Cut up the leftovers of your jack-o’-lantern – this will speed up the composting time – and add it to the pile! If you don’t have a compost pile already thriving, to get one started, make sure you have a balance of brown (leaves, wood chips) and green (grass trimmings, kitchen waste) plant matter and enough water.

Sources

    Mintel
    YouGov
    World Economic Forum

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:

Matt Mckenna
Head of UK communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806
matt.mckenna@finder.com@MichHutchison/in/matthewmckenna2

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