Fashion pulse: China - August 2026

Consumer prices (August)

China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in August 2026, up from 0.5 percent in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS). Clothing prices rose 1.3 percent YoY, after 1.4 percent in July, and remained above headline inflation. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, was 1.0 percent.

Within the clothing category, garment prices rose 1.5 percent YoY and footwear prices 0.7 percent, according to NBS. Clothing prices fell 0.1 percent month-on-month and averaged 1.6 percent above a year earlier from January to August.

Retail sales (August)

Total retail sales of consumer goods rose 0.4 percent YoY in nominal terms to 3,982.4 billion yuan in August, after 0.6 percent in July, according to NBS. Retail sales of clothes, shoes, hats and textiles by enterprises above designated size fell 0.5 percent YoY in nominal terms to 101.3 billion yuan, the second consecutive year-on-year decline after a 1.0 percent fall in July, although sales from January to August were 5.1 percent higher. Deflated by the clothing CPI, the category fell by about 1.8 percent in real terms.

Nominal online retail sales of clothing rose 4.9 percent YoY in the first eight months of 2026, down from 5.8 percent in the first seven months, according to NBS. Across all goods, sales at brand-exclusive stores above designated size fell 10.0 percent YoY from January to August and sales at department stores fell 3.0 percent. Among enterprises above designated size, nominal sales of gold, silver and jewellery fell 17.5 percent YoY in August, while cosmetics sales rose 4.9 percent.

Macro context (August)

China's urban surveyed unemployment rate rose to 5.3 percent in August from 5.2 percent in July, according to NBS. The non-manufacturing business activity index held at 49.0, with NBS reporting the business activity index for retail services below the 50 threshold. Real value added in the textile industry, among enterprises above designated size, rose 3.0 percent YoY.

Monetary policy and currency (August)

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) left the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.0 percent in August. The dollar's central parity rate averaged 6.7866 yuan in August, from 6.7970 yuan in July, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), a 0.2 percent rise in the value of the yuan. Compared with August 2025, when the rate averaged 7.1309 yuan, the yuan was 5.1 percent stronger, raising the dollar price of yuan-priced goods.

The bottom line

Chinese clothing prices rose 1.3 percent YoY in August, above headline inflation of 0.8 percent. Retail sales of clothes, shoes, hats and textiles by larger enterprises fell 0.5 percent in nominal terms, about 1.8 percent in real terms, while total retail sales rose 0.4 percent. Growth in online clothing sales slowed to 4.9 percent for the first eight months.

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.