Fashion pulse: China — April 2026

Consumer prices (April)

Clothing prices in China rose +1.5 percent year-on-year in April 2026 per the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), just above the +1.2 percent headline rate. Unlike most European markets, where clothing inflation runs below the overall index, Chinese fashion inflation sits modestly above headline — a pattern it shares this spring with the United States, Japan and Sweden — though the gap narrowed to 0.3 percentage points from 0.6 in March. Within the basket, garments rose +1.6 percent and footwear +1.0 percent, while clothing dipped 0.3 percent month-on-month in the usual spring softening. Year-to-date clothing inflation stands at +1.7 percent.