Fashion pulse: Ireland - March 2026

Consumer prices (March)

Clothing and footwear prices in Ireland rose 9.0 percent year-on-year in March, according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), while overall inflation stood at 3.6 percent. Fashion prices were the single largest contributor to Irish inflation in the twelve months to March, ahead of Education Services at plus 8.9 percent and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels at plus 7.2 percent. CSO attributed the clothing and footwear increase to higher costs for garments, shoes and other footwear. With Irish fashion inflation running at nearly triple the headline rate, Ireland now has one of the steepest fashion-price gradients of any Eurozone market — a striking reversal from the mild deflation that characterised Irish clothing prices through much of the 2010s.

Retail sales (February)

Retail sales of clothing, footwear and textiles fell 4.4 percent month-on-month in February and were 2.5 percent lower year-on-year in volume terms, according to the CSO Retail Sales Index. Clothing, Footwear and Textiles posted the largest monthly decline of any retail category, pulling total retail sales down 0.8 percent on the month. The February retreat followed a 2.6 percent monthly volume gain in January, suggesting choppy rather than collapsing demand — but the combination of falling volumes and plus 9.0 percent fashion CPI points to real affordability pressure on Irish households.

Consumer sentiment (March)

The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 56.7 in March from 65.2 in February, its lowest reading in three years according to Core Research, which produces the index on behalf of the Irish League of Credit Unions. Core Research linked the drop to escalating Middle East tensions weighing on household confidence. The Credit Union index is the direct continuation of the long-running KBC/ESRI sentiment series dating to 1996, so the March reading is comparable with three decades of history. Business confidence tells a similar story: the AIB Ireland Services PMI fell to 50.7 in March from 51.8 in February according to S&P Global, a seven-month low and barely above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction.

Macro context (Q1 2026)

Retail insolvencies rose sharply, with 50 Irish retail businesses filing for insolvency in the first quarter of 2026 according to PwC Ireland — almost 50 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2025. Retail accounted for the highest insolvency count of any sector, though within that total nearly four in ten were in Health, Beauty and Wellness rather than core fashion. With UK retailers still dominating the Irish high street and US tourists a key driver of premium fashion spend at Brown Thomas and Kildare Village, the EUR/GBP and EUR/USD cross-rates matter more for Ireland than for most Eurozone peers. The European Central Bank held its key rates steady in March.

The bottom line: Ireland’s fashion market in March 2026 shows a sharp squeeze — fashion prices rising at 9.0 percent while retail volumes fall and consumer sentiment hits a three-year low. The January-to-February whipsaw in retail volumes suggests shoppers are becoming highly responsive to promotional cycles rather than maintaining steady spend. For fashion executives selling into Ireland, the combination of high inflation, weak sentiment and rising retail insolvencies argues for tight inventory discipline and sharper value messaging through the spring-summer season.

Note: the figures in this article are based on different reporting periods. Some indicators are already available for March 2026, while others are reported with a time lag due to survey and publication cycles. This is common practice in official statistics and nevertheless allows for a reliable assessment of current market trends.