Halloween: With more than 160 million euros gobbled up in candy per year, the French have a huge appetite

Spiders, gummy crocodiles, vampire teeth... As October 31 approaches, store shelves take on the appearance of haunted houses. Behind the macabre folklore from across the Atlantic lies a vibrant economic market. In 2025, sales of confectionery for this traditional American holiday will reach 161.5 million euros in France, for nearly 18.

400 tonnes of products sold, according to the Confectioners of France union. An unmissable event for candy manufacturers, even if growth is slowing down. The attraction for the candy section works for all ages: “Blue smurfs, tangy red headbands, green, red and yellow crocodiles…” Thibaut, a forty-year-old Parisian, lists his favorite candies.

A regular consumer of sweets, he was tempted, a few days ago, by a “black and flashy Halloween marketed packet”, on sale at the local supermarket, with gummy tarantulas and snakes. Verdict: “pleasant but a little disappointing”. The disappointment is relative, because he plans to return to the supermarket with his child for new temptations.

No more candy sold, but stagnating turnover The case of this father is far from isolated. Six out of ten French people now celebrate Halloween, according to Obscoco (Society and Consumption Observatory), which particularly appeals to 18-24 year olds and households with young children. A celebration which is now a major highlight for confectioners.

Halloween represents, in 2025, 13% of the annual volumes of sweets sold in France, and constitutes between 12% and 15% of the annual turnover of confectioners, according to the market research firm NielsenIQ. If Halloween attracts consumers and the quantities of candy sold continue to increase, by 3.4% between 2023 and 2025, this dynamic no longer translates into an increase in turnover. Over the same period, sales in value remained almost stable, according to the Confectioners of France union.

A discrepancy which could be explained by the evolution of prices: after significant increases, they begin to decline. A pricing policy in the face of inflation According to data from the Que Choisir association, the 50 million packets of candy for Halloween should cost on average 4% less in 2026 than the previous year, after a drop of 3% in 2025. But this decline is not enough to erase the 21% increase recorded in 2023, attributed to the surge in the price of sugar.

A reading that is nuanced by Virginie Orezzi, marketing and R & D director of Haribo France, the leading seller of confectionery in France. “There is also packaging, transport, etc. and inflation, as in all categories, is not linked to a raw material like sugar,” she explains.

Machine-translated from French