Fashion pulse: Sweden - August 2026

Consumer prices (August)

Swedish consumer price inflation was 0.3 percent year-on-year in August 2026, up from 0.2 percent in July, while CPIF inflation, the measure targeted by the Riksbank, was unchanged at 0.7 percent, according to Statistics Sweden (SCB). Clothing and footwear prices fell 0.2 percent YoY after rising 0.4 percent in July. On the month, clothing and footwear prices rose 4.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

Within the basket, clothing prices rose 0.2 percent YoY, according to SCB, with menswear up 0.5 percent, womenswear down 0.1 percent and infantswear unchanged. Footwear prices fell 2.9 percent YoY. Men's shoes fell 4.2 percent and women's and children's shoes 2.3 percent each.

Retail sales (August, preliminary)

Sales volume at clothing stores rose 1.5 percent YoY in August, down from 6.9 percent in July, according to preliminary working-day-adjusted SCB data at constant prices. On a seasonally adjusted basis, clothing store volume fell 2.9 percent from July. Shoe and leather goods shops reported a 1.3 percent YoY rise in volume.

Retail sales volume excluding fuel rose 6.9 percent YoY in August, according to preliminary SCB data, while the volume of mail-order and internet sales rose 16.6 percent.

Macro context (August)

The household confidence indicator of the National Institute of Economic Research (NIER, Konjunkturinstitutet) rose to 98.0 in August from 97.2 in July. NIER said household sentiment was at a normal level for the first time since November 2024. Its confidence indicator for the trade sector rose to 114.2, which NIER said was its highest level since early 2022, with the most positive signals from non-food retailers.

Monetary policy and currency (August)

The Riksbank left its policy rate unchanged at 1.75 percent in August. The dollar averaged 9.5084 kronor in August, down from 9.6746 in July, according to the Riksbank, meaning the krona strengthened 1.7 percent against the dollar. Against the euro, the krona was broadly stable at an average of 11.0232 kronor per euro, compared with 11.0458 in July, while against the dollar it was 0.9 percent stronger than in August 2025.

The bottom line

Swedish clothing and footwear prices fell 0.2 percent YoY in August, below headline inflation of 0.3 percent, with footwear prices down 2.9 percent. Preliminary SCB data show clothing store volume up 1.5 percent YoY, while online retail volume rose 16.6 percent and retail volume excluding fuel 6.9 percent. Household confidence returned to a normal level at 98.0.

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.