Google & Bing Reveal the Hottest Halloween Costumes of 2016 by @DannyNMIGoodwin

Halloween is almost here, and superheroes will once again play a starring role at Halloween parties this weekend and for trick-or-treating Monday night.

Spending on Halloween costumes is forecast to reach $3.1 billion this year, according to the NRF. Adult costumes will account for $1.54 billion in sales and children’s costumes will account for $1.17 billion, Bing data shows.

According to the NRF, 34 percent of people turn to search engines for Halloween costume inspiration. Which costumes are inspiring consumers most this year?

Harley Quinn, Star Wars, and Deadpool are among the most searched for costumes this year, search data from Google and Bing reveals.

So if you’re still looking for some last minute Halloween costume ideas, and want to avoid duplicate costume penalties, check out this list to see what’s trending.

Top 50 Halloween Costume Searches on Google

Harley Quinn is seriously hot. According to the Frightgeist site, no costume was searched for more often this year than Harley Quinn.

Quinn wasn’t the only “Suicide Squad” costume in high demand. Joker costumes searches ranked second on the list.

You should also expect to see plenty of “Star Wars” costumes – Stormtrooper and Darth Vader costumes both made the list (41 and 49, respectively). But it isn’t clear whether we can expect to see new characters like Rey and Kylo Ren, or maybe even long-time favorites Chewbacca, Boba Fett and Princess Leia.

Plenty of other superheroes made Google’s list, including Wonder Woman, Batman, Deadpool, and Poison Ivy.

And in a year where we’ve heard about creepy clown (redundant?) sightings, some of which turned out to be hoaxes, clown costumes ranked ninth on Google’s list.

Here are the top 50 trending costumes, according to Google Trends:

1. Harley Quinn
2. Joker
3. Superhero
4. Pirate
5. Wonder Woman
6. Witch
7. Batman
8. Star Wars
9. Clown
10. Dinosaur
11. Mermaid
12. Pikachu
13. Zombie
14. Minnie Mouse
15. Deadpool
16. Vampire
17. Poison Ivy
18. Princess
19. Minions
20. Unicorn
21. Ghostbusters
22. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
23. Catwoman
24. Pumpkin
25. Tyrannosaurus
26. Lion
27. Doll
28. Mickey Mouse
29. PAW Patrol
30. Cheerleader
31. Little Red Riding Hood
32. Skeleton
33. The Mad Hatter
34. Fairy
35. Angel
36. Tinker Bell
37. Ninja
38. Ghost
39. Superman
40. Rabbit
41. Stormtrooper
42. Princess Jasmine
43. Bear
44. 1980s
45. Power Rangers
46. Belle
47. Batgirl
48. Steampunk
49. Darth Vader
50. Cowboy

2016 Halloween Costume Trends from Bing

Suicide Squad costumes was the top search in every state, according to Bing data. Star Wars costumes ranked second in all but two states where search demand was higher for Pokémon costumes. (Hawaii and Wisconsin)

Bing also looked at costume search trends by age group. They found that:

• 13- to 17-year-olds were 473 percent more likely to search for Pokémon compared to 18-24-year-olds.
• 18- to 24-year-olds were 8 percent more likely to search for Little Mermaid than Deadpool.
• 25- to 34-year-olds were 10 percent more likely to search for Deadpool over Little Mermaid.
• 35- to 49-year-olds were 242 percent more likely to search for Harry Potter compared to 25-34-year-olds.
• 50- to 64-year-olds were 8 percent more likely to search for Alice in Wonderland than Pokémon.
• 65-year-olds and older were equally likely to search for Five Nights at Freddy’s as Deadpool.

Happy Halloween!

Image Credit: Depositphotos