Easter 2016 By The Numbers: Peeps, Chocolate Bunnies, Eggs, And Money – How Much Is Eaten And Spent?

Easter is a day of celebration and worship, as it signifies the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and many will gather in churches to offer their praise. Easter is also a huge spending holiday and it appears as if Americans are planning on spending more than ever in 2016, and that’s even when some say the economy isn’t great. It’s time to check out Easter 2016 by the numbers and see how many eggs, marshmallow Peeps, chocolate bunnies and more will be purchased.

The Fiscal Times reports that an estimated $17.3 billion is expected to be spent for Easter this year, and that averages out to a whopping $146 per person. Thinking that many won’t spend anything, the average goes up for those actually shelling out money on candy and other such things.

The average in 2015 was $140.62 per person, and 2016 marks the highest average in the 13 year history of the National Retail Federation.

Matthew Shay is the president and CEO of the National Retail Foundation and he realizes that spending is at an all-time high for Easter this year. Not only are consumers buying the traditional holiday items, but Easter sales mean more spending overall.

“Retailers are beginning one of their busiest times of year and are more than ready as consumers shop for spring essentials. Shoppers will find promotions on a number of items on their lists, from Easter baskets to sports equipment, home goods, garden tools and more.”

The survey has it broken down to see what American shoppers are spending their money on for Easter 2016.

• $5.5 billion on food
• $3 billion on clothing
• $2.7 billion on gifts for others
• $2.4 billion on candy
• $1.2 billion on flowers

The bird flu has caused a bit of an increase on food costs due to egg prices rising by 8 percent as compared to last year. This ends up affecting 31 percent of Americans who are going to have Easter Egg hunts in 2016.

Of course, some just prefer the cheaper option of plastic colored eggs, but that often leads to more money being spent due to buying candy or other treats to fill them.

Easter Egg hunts are performed in numerous locations and in manners of all kinds. Some have real eggs while others have chocolate eggs and others have surprise treat eggs. It can be fun to find a plastic egg filled with jelly beans.

It shouldn’t be surprising that jelly beans are fun to find on Easter as 16 billion of them are consumed by Americans every Easter.

Many may not realize it, but History points out that the date of Easter each year can fluctuate pretty greatly. Sometimes it may fall in late March and others in April, but it will always fall sometime between March 22 and April 25.

A few other great and fun Easter facts are:

• 18 million – Eggs decorated and dyed each year
• 60-65% – Percentage of Americans attending church services on Easter
• 43 million – Easter cards sent by Americans each year
• 89% – Percentage of Americans who believe chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first
• 81% – Percentage of parents who steal candy from the Easter baskets of their children
• 90 million – Chocolate bunnies produced each year
• 500 million – Cadbury Creme Eggs made each year
• 700 million – Peeps eaten by Americans each year
• 1 minute – Time taken to create a single Peep

Easter 2016 is going to be a time of worship and church services and praise for some. Others will focus on hiding eggs and getting Easter baskets together with candy and gifts. There are also Americans who will incorporate both aspects of the holiday into their lives. By the numbers, Easter is one of the higher money-spending holidays each and every year.

[Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images]