When it comes to Halloween, Gen Xers are the most generous – but a lack of self-control still gets the better of a lot of us, who keep candy for ourselves.

Those are the latest insights from data firm Caddle, which recently conducted a survey of 8,400 Canadians to get a better understanding of consumer behaviour leading up to Halloween.

According to the numbers, 31% are spending in the $11 to $25 dollar range. Gen X are the biggest spenders – 28% spend between $26 and $50, while 10% spend over $50. And thanks to what Caddle calls “residual FOMO” or fear of missing out, Gen Z plans to spend 23% more on candy this year.

When it comes to Halloween candy purchases, almost half (49%) of Canadians will buy it, eat it for themselves and then have to make another purchase to have something give away – Millennials the most likely to show this lack of self-control.

The gender breakdown reveals that women are more keen on Halloween than their male counterparts: 57.7% of women celebrate annually, compared with 48.4% of men.

The study finds 56% of Gen Z celebrate every year, 23% of Millennials celebrate every other year or every few years, whilst 39% of Baby Boomers rarely or don’t celebrate.

No matter what percentage you look at, those who have kids in the house over-index in every response when it comes to giving out candy: 46% will give out more than half of their purchased candy to trick-or-treaters, compared to just 36% of the general population.

Regionally, 83% of Newfoundlanders celebrate Halloween annually, compared with only half of Quebeckers, with Ontario coming in at 57%.

Though it is not having as big of an impact as last year, COVID-19 concerns continue to impact holiday celebrations, with 18% unsure about their Halloween plans with the holiday just two weeks away, particularly residents of Manitoba.