Fashion pulse: Belgium - March 2026

Consumer prices (March)

Fashion prices in Belgium rose 3.25 percent year-on-year in March, significantly above the overall inflation rate of 1.65 percent, according to Belgium’s national statistics office StatBel. This is a notable divergence — clothing and footwear is one of the few categories where prices are rising faster than the national average. Clothing prices increased 4.16 percent, with womenswear leading at plus 4.48 percent and menswear at plus 3.97 percent. Infantswear was more subdued at plus 0.78 percent. Footwear, in contrast, declined 0.66 percent YoY, with children’s footwear falling the sharpest at minus 1.84 percent.

Retail sales (February)

Fashion retail turnover — covering textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods combined — grew 5.7 percent in nominal terms and 4.7 percent in real terms in February, according to StatBel. This comfortably outperformed total Belgian retail, which was virtually flat in both nominal and real terms. The gap between nominal and real growth of roughly one percentage point is consistent with the moderate clothing inflation observed in the CPI data. Internet retail turnover remained robust.

Macro context (March)

Consumer confidence dropped sharply to minus 18.2 in March from minus 14.0 in February, according to the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) survey published via the European Union statistics office Eurostat. Business confidence improved marginally to minus 14.2 from minus 14.9. Unemployment stood at 6.4 percent in February according to Eurostat, up from approximately 6.0 percent a year ago. The euro averaged 1.156 dollars according to the European Central Bank (ECB), up 7.0 percent from a year earlier.

The bottom line: Belgian fashion retail presents an unusual picture — clothing prices rising well above headline inflation while sales volumes also grow. This suggests genuine demand strength, not just price-driven revenue. The sharp confidence drop to minus 18.2 is the main risk, though the retail data so far shows no sign of consumers pulling back from fashion spending. Footwear deflation of minus 0.66 percent contrasts with the plus 4.16 percent surge in clothing prices, pointing to diverging category dynamics.

Note: The figures in this article are based on different reporting periods. Some indicators are already available for March, while others are reported with a time lag due to survey and publication cycles. This is common practice in official statistics and nevertheless allows for a reliable assessment of current market trends.