Clothing prices in Spain could rise by 5% in the six months to February, which includes the Christmas holidays. This is according to a survey of retail chains carried out by the ARTE trade group, whose members include the owners of Zara, Inditex, H&M and Primark.
The survey, the first carried out by the ARTE group, revealed that 75% of executives who participated expected price increases of between zero and 5%, at a time when inflation is slowing in Spain.
“The evolution of the price of raw materials, the increase in transport costs and the increase in costs linked to new environmental requirements imposed on companies will lead to slight price increases in the sector over the next six months, in a context of moderation of inflation”, indicates the ARTE survey.
Spanish inflation, at a rate harmonized with the rest of the EU, stood at 1.8% year-on-year in the 12 months that ended in October. During the same period, inflation in the EU stood at 2.3%.
Most of the 16 managers interviewed as part of the ARTE survey carried out in October expect their prices to change between 0 and 5% during the Christmas shopping period compared to the previous half-year, which extends from March to August this year.
According to the survey, executives expect clothing and footwear prices to rise an average of 2.2% between September and February, similar to the 2% increase recorded in the sector of textile retail sales during the same period last year.
However, the remaining 25% of executives said prices could fall, but not by more than 5%.
For the September to February period, which is dominated by Christmas shopping, 77% of major retailer executives expect clothing sales in Spain to increase by 10% compared to the previous six months.
On the other hand, 8% of executives expect clothing sales to increase by 10 to 20% during this period and 15% of them fear stagnation or a decline of up to 5%.
The country is expected to welcome a record number of tourists in 2024, contributing to forecasts of faster economic growth than in other EU countries.
(Reporting by Corina Pons; editing by David Latona and Jane Merriman; Spanish editing by Jorge Ollero Castela)
