For Easter, Americans will spend $16.8 billion -- $145.28 each

Between the chocolate eggs, the pastel fashions and the flowers, American consumers are going to spend $16.8 billion on celebrating Easter Sunday on April 8. And that doesn’t even include paying for increasingly expensive gasoline to get to church.

The average person will shell out $145.28 for the holiday, up 11% from the $131.04 last year, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation conducted by BIGinsight.

Much of the uptick has to do with the warm weather as well as generally improving consumer confidence, researchers said. But retailers will do their part to attract customers: Nearly half of Americans said they plan to head into stores to spend a total of $3 billion shopping spring sales.

And look in the candy aisle -- 89.3% of consumers will be there raiding the jelly beans and Peeps, dropping more than $2 billion on sweets.

That’s $26.11 a person for clothing and $20.35 each on confectionery goodies.

Come mealtime, the average American will spend $44.34 on an Easter spread. And $20.57 on gifts. And another $10.50 on flowers. The greeting card industry is looking forward to the holiday too -- Americans will each spend about $7 on well-wishing.

The majority of shoppers will hit discount stores for Easter goods, but 42.6% will also visit department stores. And 2 in 5 -- a growing share -- will buy from online retailers, according to the study.

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