Fashion pulse: Germany - August 2026

Consumer prices (August)

German headline inflation on the national consumer price index (CPI) rose to plus 2.9 percent year-on-year in August 2026, up from plus 2.8 percent in July, according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Destatis named higher energy prices as the primary driver, with motor fuel prices 27.7 percent higher YoY. Clothing and footwear prices rose 0.4 percent YoY on the national CPI after a 1.0 percent decline in July, narrowing the gap to headline inflation from 3.8 to 2.5 percentage points.

Within the basket, according to Destatis, clothing prices rose 0.1 percent YoY and footwear prices 1.8 percent. Menswear prices fell 0.2 percent and womenswear prices 0.3 percent, while children's clothing rose 1.8 percent and clothing accessories 2.3 percent. On the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) published by the European Union statistics office Eurostat, clothing and footwear rose 0.3 percent YoY.

Retail sales (August, preliminary)

Real turnover at clothing retailers rose 1.3 percent YoY in August, according to preliminary unadjusted Destatis data, after a 1.7 percent rise in July. Nominal clothing-store turnover also rose 1.3 percent. Shoe and leather goods retailers saw real turnover fall 1.4 percent YoY.

Clothing outperformed the wider market, where real turnover fell 0.6 percent YoY on the same unadjusted basis. On Destatis's adjusted press-release figures, total retail volume rose 1.3 percent in real terms from July, partly recovering July's revised 3.2 percent decline. On that same preliminary adjusted basis, non-food retail fell 0.8 percent YoY in real terms, while online and mail-order retail rose 3.5 percent in real terms.

Macro context (August)

The European Commission's consumer confidence indicator for Germany improved to minus 12.7 in August from minus 13.7 in July. The Nuremberg-based market research institute NIM put its GfK Consumer Climate at minus 26.8 points heading into September, revised from an initial minus 26.6, up from minus 29.4 heading into August. NIM attributed the improvement mainly to higher income expectations, while willingness to buy remained virtually unchanged.

The Munich-based ifo Institute's business climate index rose to 88.8 points in August from 86.7 in July, with ifo reporting that retailers were more satisfied with current business conditions. Germany's unemployment rate held at 4.0 percent for a third month, according to Eurostat. Germany's Federal Employment Agency, the Bundesagentur fuer Arbeit, counted 3,061,400 registered unemployed in August, 36,260 more than a year earlier.

Monetary policy and currency (August)

The European Central Bank (ECB) left the deposit facility rate unchanged at 2.25 percent in August. The euro strengthened 1.54 percent against the US dollar in August, with a monthly mean of 1.1593 dollars versus 1.1417 dollars in July, according to the ECB. Compared with August 2025, the euro was 0.33 percent weaker, leaving landed costs for dollar-invoiced sourcing broadly in line with a year earlier.

The bottom line

Germany's August data show clothing and footwear prices rising more slowly than headline inflation, at plus 0.4 percent against plus 2.9 percent on the national CPI. Preliminary unadjusted Destatis data show real turnover at clothing retailers up 1.3 percent YoY, against a 0.6 percent decline for retail overall on the same basis, while shoe retailers lost ground. Sentiment improved among consumers and businesses, while NIM reported willingness to buy as virtually unchanged heading into September.

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.