Fashion pulse: Brazil - August 2026

Consumer prices (August)

Prices in the Vestuário (clothing) group of Brazil's IPCA consumer price index rose 3.25 percent year-on-year in August 2026, down from 3.87 percent in July, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Headline IPCA inflation eased to 4.22 percent from 4.44 percent, so clothing inflation remained below the headline rate. On the month, clothing prices rose 0.12 percent, while the overall index fell 0.32 percent.

Within the group, prices of clothes rose 1.47 percent YoY, with menswear up 1.97 percent, womenswear up 0.79 percent and childrenswear up 2.05 percent, according to IBGE. Footwear and accessories rose 5.75 percent, with trainers up 6.74 percent. Jewellery and costume jewellery prices rose 13.55 percent.

Retail sales (July, preliminary)

IBGE retail data are available up to July. Sales volume in the textiles, apparel and footwear activity group fell 4.7 percent YoY in July, according to IBGE's Monthly Trade Survey (PMC), after a 1.7 percent decline in June. On a seasonally adjusted basis, volume fell 2.7 percent from June, after a 3.2 percent drop the month before.

In nominal terms, textiles, apparel and footwear sales fell 2.0 percent YoY in July, according to IBGE. Total retail sales volume rose 1.2 percent YoY but fell 0.8 percent from June on a seasonally adjusted basis. From January to July, textiles, apparel and footwear sales volume was 0.9 percent lower than a year earlier.

Consumer sentiment (August)

The consumer confidence index of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) fell 3.6 points to 84.7 in August, its fourth consecutive monthly decline. The expectations index fell 5.4 points to 86.1, while the indicator of planned purchases of durable goods dropped 10.0 points to 74.7. FGV's commerce confidence index fell 1.3 points to 84.2, as its expected-sales component dropped 2.6 points to 85.6.

Monetary policy and currency (August)

The Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) cut the Selic benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 14.00 percent at its meeting on 5 August. The dollar averaged 5.1532 reais in August, up from 5.1139 reais in July, according to BCB's PTAX reference rate, a 0.8 percent fall in the value of the real. Compared with August 2025, when the dollar averaged 5.4469 reais, the real was 5.7 percent stronger.

Macro context (August)

Brazil's unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in the three months to August, unchanged from the three months to July and down from 5.6 percent a year earlier, according to IBGE.

The bottom line

Brazilian clothing prices rose 3.25 percent YoY in August, below headline IPCA inflation of 4.22 percent. The latest IBGE retail data, for July, show textiles, apparel and footwear sales volume down 4.7 percent YoY. Consumer confidence fell to 84.7 in August, with planned durable-goods purchases down 10.0 points, while Copom cut the Selic rate to 14.00 percent.

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.