Fashion pulse: United Kingdom - August 2026

Consumer prices (August)

UK headline inflation on the consumer price index (CPI) rose to 3.1 percent year-on-year in August 2026 from 2.9 percent in July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Transport made the largest contribution to the annual rate, with motor fuel prices 23.0 percent higher YoY, while core CPI, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, held at 2.6 percent. Headline inflation is 1.1 percentage points above the 2 percent inflation target of the Bank of England (BoE).

Clothing and footwear prices rose 0.2 percent YoY, down from 0.5 percent in July, according to ONS. Clothing prices rose 0.6 percent while footwear prices fell 1.9 percent. On the month, clothing and footwear prices rose 0.6 percent.

Within clothing, womenswear prices rose 0.8 percent YoY and menswear 0.3 percent, while garments for infants and children fell 0.3 percent and clothing accessories rose 4.6 percent, according to ONS. Footwear prices fell for men, women and children, by 2.2, 1.8 and 0.5 percent respectively.

Retail sales (August, preliminary)

Sales volumes at textile, clothing and footwear stores in Great Britain rose in August, with the seasonally adjusted ONS volume index at 104.7 against 103.5 in July and 103.0 in August 2025, according to preliminary ONS figures. The value index rose to 106.1 from 103.8 a year earlier, a larger increase than in volumes, suggesting that higher prices accounted for part of the growth. Over the three months to August, volumes at these stores were 0.6 percent higher than in the previous three months.

Average weekly online sales at textile, clothing and footwear retailers in Great Britain fell 2.5 percent from July to 316.4 million pounds, and the online share of these retailers' sales eased to 28.1 percent from 29.1 percent, according to preliminary ONS figures. Total retail sales volumes, including automotive fuel, rose 0.5 percent on the month and 2.4 percent YoY.

Macro context

The NIQ GfK consumer confidence index rose three points to minus 14 in August, which GfK described as its highest level in two years. The major purchase index rose five points to minus 7.

Card spending on clothing rose 0.9 percent YoY in the four weeks to 20 August, while the number of clothing transactions rose 6.1 percent, according to Barclays, which sees nearly 40 percent of UK card transactions.

The UK unemployment rate for people aged 16 and over was 4.9 percent in the three months to July, unchanged from the three months to June, according to ONS.

Monetary policy and currency (August)

The BoE left Bank Rate unchanged at 3.75 percent in August. The pound strengthened 1.2 percent against the dollar in August, averaging 1.3544 dollars compared with 1.3379 dollars in July, according to the BoE, while it weakened 0.3 percent against the euro to an average of 1.1682 euros per pound. Compared with August 2025, the pound was 0.7 percent stronger against the dollar.

The bottom line

UK clothing and footwear prices rose 0.2 percent YoY in August, against headline CPI inflation of 3.1 percent. Preliminary ONS data show sales volumes at textile, clothing and footwear stores in Great Britain above their level of a year earlier, with the value of those sales rising faster than volumes. Consumer confidence reached its highest level in two years, according to GfK.

Note: this article combines the most recent official data available at the time of writing. Reporting lags differ by indicator and country, so not all figures refer to the same month. Each data point is labelled with its reference period.