UK clothing-footwear prices rise by 8% in year to Feb from 6.2% in Jan

Prices usually rise between January and February as new stock starts to enter the shops following the new year sales period. However, the 2.5 per cent rise this year is the largest observed between January and February since 2012.

The price movements reflect the amount of discounting observed in the datasets, the UK office of National Statistics (ONS) said in a release.

The upward effect on the change in the headline rate between January and February 2023 was principally from women's clothing, where prices rose by more this year than a year ago.

The UK consumer price index (CPI) rose by 10.4 per cent in the 12 months to February, up from 10.1 per cent in January. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 1.1 per cent in February compared with a rise of 0.8 per cent in February 2022.

The largest upward contributions to the monthly change in the CPI rates came from clothing, restaurants and cafes, and food.

Alpesh Paleja, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) lead economist, said: "While inflation rose in February, the outlook for the months ahead is looking more benign, thanks to lower wholesale energy prices. But while we expect inflation to fall back over this year, the firmness in domestic price pressures is something that the Bank of England will be keeping a close eye on.

"And despite further falls over the coming months, this year will still be a high-inflation environment for both households and businesses. Extending the Energy Price Guarantee in the Budget was a welcome move to curb some of the short-term impact on living standards. But building resilience to future energy price shocks is vital to weathering price pressures in the future. The government’s commitment to carbon capture and nuclear energy is a good first step, but all eyes will now be on further announcements on their green plans. With the US and Europe raising their game on green growth, moving further and faster in the months ahead is key."

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)