Halloween spending to reach $8.8 billion in 2019

People are spending big money this Halloween season.

The National Retail Federation predicts Halloween spending will reach $8.8 billion this year. They base that number off of data collected by an annual survey.

The results showed shoppers plan to spend an average of $86.27 on Halloween in 2019. While that might seem high, it's actually down from last year's $86.79, which was a new record.

This year's spending is expected to be the third-highest in 15 years.

A total of 172 million people plan to celebrate Halloween. Of those, 69% plan to hand out candy, 49% plan to decorate, 47% plan to dress in a costume, and 44% will carve a pumpkin.

Other Halloween celebrations include parties—32% of those surveyed plan to throw or attend one. Another 29% plan to take their kids trick-or-treating, and 22% say they will go to a haunted house.