Fashion pulse: Austria - March 2026

Consumer prices (March 2026)

Clothing prices in Austria fell 0.1 percent year-on-year in March, while footwear prices fell 1.6 percent, according to Eurostat’s Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) compiled from Statistik Austria data. The combined clothing-and-footwear basket (COICOP CP03) was down 0.4 percent year-on-year. Headline HICP inflation was +3.1 percent over the same period, placing the fashion basket 3.5 percentage points below headline — among the widest fashion-vs-headline gaps in the Fashion pulse series. Within the fashion basket, children’s shoes fell the most at minus 3.9 percent, followed by men’s shoes at minus 2.4 percent and menswear at minus 2.0 percent. Only womenswear (+0.8 percent), infants/kids clothing (+1.4 percent), clothing materials (+1.1 percent), and accessories (+0.6 percent) remained in positive territory. The pattern — men’s deflation, women’s and children’s variable — matches the European fashion-deflation cluster visible in Switzerland (clothing −0.7 percent, women’s shoes −2.9 percent), Finland (clothing & footwear −0.9 percent, women’s shoes −3.5 percent) and Norway (clothing & footwear +1.4 percent but men’s shoes −2.7 percent).

Retail sales (January 2026 — latest available)

Total Austrian retail sales volume rose 0.79 percent year-on-year in January, according to Eurostat. Specialist retail other than food and household equipment (NACE G477, which includes clothing, footwear, pharmacy and cosmetics) rose 4.06 percent year-on-year — the strongest growth among specialist retail segments. Non-store retail (mail-order and internet) was flat at 0.00 percent. February’s preliminary total retail reading was slightly weaker at minus 0.34 percent year-on-year, with specialist categories not yet reported. Austrian retail in early 2026 shows a mild positive trajectory overall but narrowing fast.

Monetary policy and currency

Austria, as a Eurozone member, operates at the European Central Bank deposit facility rate of 2.00 percent, held since 11 June 2025 after 100 basis points of H1 2025 cuts. The euro weakened 2.25 percent against the US dollar in March, with the ECB reference rate averaging 1.1558 versus 1.1824 in February — a cost headwind for Austrian fashion importers sourcing from USD-denominated Asia.

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.