Credits: FashionUnited ai Consumer prices (March) Clothing and footwear prices in Argentina rose 13.43 percent year-on-year in March, according to Argentina’s national statistics institute INDEC, easing from plus 15.06 percent in February and running at less than half the headline inflation rate of plus 32.61 percent. For a country where clothing typically led the way during the 2023-2024 inflation crisis, the divergence is structurally significant: fashion is now acting as a disinflationary anchor in the Argentine basket rather than a contributor to price pressure. Headline inflation itself also cooled, dropping to plus 32.61 percent from plus 33.05 percent in February. On a monthly basis, Prendas de vestir y calzado (clothing and footwear) rose 3.11 percent in March against a headline reading of plus 3.38 percent — the first month of 2026 in which clothing has grown slower than the overall index. Retail sales (January) Shopping-centre sales of clothing, footwear and leather goods in Argentina rose 20.51 percent year-on-year in January at current prices, according to INDEC’s Encuesta de Centros de Compras — the most recent month for which national shopping-centre data is available. Adjusted for clothing-category inflation of plus 15.55 percent in the same month, that translates to real-volume growth of approximately 4 percent, outperforming total shopping-centre sales which were essentially flat on the year in real terms. February shopping-centre data publishes in mid-May and March in mid-June, so for flash commentary between official releases, the Confederación Argentina de la Mediana Empresa (CAME) publishes its SME retail sales survey —…
