This year's most popular halloween costumes are ...

Constance Brinkley-Badgett

Princesses be warned: Your reign of popularity among kids celebrating Halloween is over. 2016 is the year of the superhero, according to the National Retail Federation's 2016 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey.

The annual review of popular Halloween costumes, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, found that spending on costumes is expected to reach $3.1 billion, with 67% of Halloween celebrants planning to purchase costumes this year. Total spending for the holiday is expected to reach a record high of $8.4 billion, according to earlier data from the NRF. More than 171 million people are expected to take part in Halloween festivities, spending an average of $82.93 (up from last year's $74.34).

The NRF's costume trends survey, conducted September 6-13, asked 6,791 consumers about their Halloween costume plans. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

Here are the most popular costumes this year, broken down by age groups (and species), per the NRF.

Children

  1. Action/Superhero

  2. Princess

  3. Animal (cat, dog, lion, monkey, etc.)

  4. Batman Character

  5. Star Wars Character

  6. Tie: Witch & DC Superhero (excluding Batman)

  7. Frozen Character (Anna, Elsa, Olaf)

  8. Marvel Superhero (excluding Spiderman)

  9. Zombie

  10. Spiderman

Adults 18-34

  1. Batman Character (Batman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, etc.)

  2. Witch

  3. Animal (cat, dog, bunny, etc.)

  4. Tie: Marvel Superhero (Deadpool, Spiderman, etc.) & DC Superhero (Wonder Woman, Superman, excluding Batman)

  5. Vampire

  6. Video Game Character

  7. Slasher Movie Villain (Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, etc.)

  8. Pirate

  9. Star Wars Character

  10. Zombie

PHOTOS: See what your favorite celebs dressed up as last year:

Adults 35 & Up

  1. Witch

  2. Pirate

  3. Political (Trump, Clinton, etc.)

  4. Vampire

  5. Batman Character (Batman, Catwoman, etc.)

  6. Animal (cat, dog, bunny, etc.)

  7. Tie: DC Superhero (Superman, Wonder Woman, excluding Batman) & Star Wars Character

  8. Tie: Ghost & Zombie

  9. Scary Costume/Mask

  10. Marvel Superhero (Iron Man, Hulk, Spiderman, etc.)

Pets

  1. Pumpkin

  2. Hot Dog

  3. Bumble Bee

  4. Tie: Lion & Star Wars Character

  5. Devil

  6. Batman Character

  7. Witch

  8. Superman

  9. Action/Superhero

  10. Cat

Don't Dig a Debt Grave This Halloween

If you have big Halloween plans this year, it's good to keep in mind that overspending can be scarier than any haunted house. If you're carrying a large credit card balance that you're finding difficult to pay off, consider some DIY decorating and costume tips.

Remember, too much debt can hurt your credit scores, keeping you from getting the best financing terms available on everything from auto and home loans to credit cards. You can monitor your credit by signing up for your free credit report summary, updated every 14 days on Credit.com. If your credit needs some work, you can generally improve your scores by paying down those high credit card balances, disputing errors on your credit reports and limiting credit inquiries.

RELATED: Check out what candy each state was dishing out in 2015:

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This article originally appeared on Credit.com.

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