What People Spent Their Money On in 2026

Toys and collectibles had real growth in purchases

One of the strongest findings comes from a category that is easy to underestimate: toys.

Circana reported that U.S. toy sales rose 17% in dollars during January through June 2026, while unit sales increased 12%. That second number matters. The growth involved more products being sold, rather than simply higher prices.

Trading cards and collectibles helped drive the increase. Games and puzzles grew 45% in dollar sales, while building sets increased 22% and arts and crafts rose 20%.

The buyers were not only parents shopping for young children. Sales of toys intended for adults aged 18 and over grew 25%, and purchases for teenage recipients rose 33%. Together, teenagers and adults accounted for nearly 60% of the industry’s additional sales dollars in the first half.

That changes the way to think about the toy aisle. A card collection, display model or intricate building project can compete for someone’s hobby budget, not just their spending on children’s presents.

LEGO flowers and cars were more than social media props

LEGO’s own results provide a concrete example of that demand. The company reported a 22% increase in global consumer sales for the first half of 2026.

Its bestselling themes included LEGO Speed Champions, Botanicals, Technic, Icons and Star Wars. The company did not present that list as a ranking of individual sets, so it would be inaccurate to crown one particular bouquet or car as the year’s bestselling toy.

Still, the range is revealing. Botanical builds can become home decorations. Model cars appeal to motoring interests. Licensed sets connect a physical object with a film or fictional world someone already enjoys.

A useful interpretation is that these purchases can offer several kinds of value at once: something to assemble, something to display and something connected to an existing interest. That helps explain why a building set can remain appealing even when a shopper is cautious about less meaningful purchases.

For gift buyers, the practical lesson is to identify the recipient’s actual interest before following a bestseller list. A popular racing set is not automatically a better gift than a smaller set connected to someone’s favorite subject.

Beauty spending reached beyond expensive perfume

Beauty was another strong category, although the details varied considerably.

In the first half of 2026, Circana recorded U.S. prestige beauty sales of $17.1 billion and mass-market beauty sales of $39.2 billion. Both increased 7% from a year earlier, with positive unit demand across the two segments.

Fragrance illustrates why sales growth needs interpretation. Mass-market fragrance sales increased 15%, with units up 7%. Prestige fragrance revenue rose 6%, but unit sales were flat, as higher average prices helped lift spending.

People were therefore buying more fragrance products in the mass market, while the prestige category’s dollar growth did not mean more bottles were sold overall.

Skincare also stood out. Prestige skincare sales increased 9%, with unit growth in double digits. Body care sales rose 16% and sun care 19%. These figures point toward demand for products used in recurring routines, alongside occasional treats.

For shoppers, a category’s popularity is useful context, but it does not establish that a particular product will suit them. An expensive perfume and an affordable body spray can both sell well for very different reasons.

The iPhone 17 led phone sales but did not represent every buyer

Within smartphones, there is a more direct answer to the bestseller question. Counterpoint Research identified the iPhone 17 as the world’s bestselling smartphone in the second quarter of 2026, accounting for 6% of global smartphone unit sales.

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra led Android sales in the same quarter. These are rankings of individual models, not a declaration that most people bought premium phones or that one manufacturer dominated every market.

The distinction is easy to miss. A model with 6% of sales can lead a fragmented market while the other 94% is spread across many alternatives.

Nor does a bestselling model contradict the trend toward keeping phones longer. One describes which device people chose when they bought; the other describes how often they replaced their handset.

If you are comparing phones, use sales rankings as a starting point for research. Then check the things that affect your ownership: battery life, remaining software support, storage, repair costs and the total price after any financing or trade-in conditions.

Grocery spending increased without a surge in food volume

Food shopping tells a quieter story.

Circana reported that U.S. retail food and beverage sales grew 2.2% in the first half of 2026, while volume was flat. Changes in prices and the mix of products purchased explained the increase in spending.

That means a larger grocery bill was not evidence that households were bringing home proportionately more food.

Imagine a household buying the same quantities but paying slightly more for coffee, meat and packaged goods. Its spending rises without its consumption increasing. Alternatively, switching to a more expensive version of a product can increase the bill even if the shelf price of each version stays unchanged.

This is why “people spent more on groceries” and “people bought more groceries” should not be treated as interchangeable claims.

For a household trying to understand its own spending, compare quantities as well as receipts. Price per ounce, serving or wash can reveal changes that the final checkout total hides, especially when package sizes differ.

Small purchases for hobbies and daily enjoyment remained appealing

Circana’s September update identified frozen desserts, energy drinks, yoga and mat Pilates products, baking tools, beauty products and trading cards as areas of consumer interest.

These were bright spots within a selective market, not a ranked list of the most-purchased products. Through August 29, toys and prestige beauty were the only major discretionary categories in its U.S. tracking to record year-over-year unit growth.

One plausible connection between these otherwise different products is how easily buyers can imagine using them. A baking tool belongs to a weekend activity. A mat belongs to an exercise routine. A frozen dessert delivers an immediate treat.

The report does not prove that every buyer chose these products for the same reason. It does suggest that “useful” and “enjoyable” are both relevant to purchase decisions, even when budgets are under pressure.

A hypothetical shopper can postpone a $900 phone replacement and still buy a $25 baking tool. There is no contradiction: the purchases answer different needs and require very different commitments.

The most important distinction is between more spending and more buying

The strongest 2026 shopping stories are not all the same kind of success.

Toys showed substantial growth in both spending and units. Beauty contained a mix of genuine purchase growth and categories where higher prices or more expensive choices lifted revenue. Grocery spending increased without higher overall volume. Smartphones produced clear model-level winners, but those rankings describe a specific market and period.

For anyone reading a “most popular products” story, three questions make it more useful: Where were the sales measured? Over which months? And does the number describe money spent, items sold or growth from last year?

Those questions separate evidence from hype. A viral product can dominate your feed without dominating sales. A fast-growing niche can remain much smaller than an ordinary category that rarely attracts attention.

What the results so far show is a shopper willing to spend on familiar routines, distinctive hobbies and selected upgrades. The clearest winners have given people a reason to make room for them in the budget.