Halloween candy will cost 13% more than compared to last year, Labor Department report shows

Sweets of all kinds are more expensive than they were last year, largely because of major increases in the prices of sugar and flour.

By Joseph Weber

Updated: October 17, 2022 - 8:28am

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The cost of Halloween candy is up more than 13% compared to last year, according to the most recent inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The cost increase of 13.1% in the bureau's Consumer Price Index report for September is the largest yearly increase in candy prices recorded in the CPI report.

For comparison, it took nine years, from 1997 to 2006, for candy prices to rise 13%, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Sweets of all kinds are more expensive than they were last year, in large part because of major increases in the prices of sugar and flour, the NPR affiliate also reports.

The cost of sugar is up over 17% since last September, in part because of supply chain disruptions and a poor beet sugar production this year. And flour prices have increased even more, at 24%.

Americans collectively are spend about $3.1 billion on candy this season, according to the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group.