The clothing and footwear sector reported a 0.2% increase month-on-month (MoM) and a 1.7% increase year-on-year (YoY).
In March 2024, Italy's nationwide consumer price index (NIC) remained stable month-on-month, with a modest year-on-year increase of 1.2%, according to Istat. Clothing and footwear increased by 1.7% over the same period last year. Changes in energy prices significantly impacted the index, while core inflation held steady at 2.3%. Italy's HICP increased by 1.2%.
Stability on a MoM basis is affected by both increases and decreases in specific sectors. Notably, regulated energy products increased slightly by 0.7% and non-durable goods increased by 0.4%. However, these increases were offset by a 1.9% decrease in unregulated energy products.
On a year-over-year basis, the all-commodity index saw significant changes, mainly due to narrowing price declines in energy products. Prices for unregulated energy products improved significantly, from a 17.2% decline to a 10.3% decline. Similarly, regulated energy products showed a less drastic decline, improving from minus 18.4% to minus 13.8%, according to Istat.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as energy and unprocessed foods, remained unchanged at 2.3%. When only energy is excluded, inflation falls slightly from 2.6% to 2.4%. However, the overall goods sector recorded a year-on-year decline of 0.2%, an improvement from negative 0.9% in February.
March also marked a notable increase in Italy's harmonized consumer price index (HICP), up 1.2% month-on-month, mainly due to winter sales in the clothing and footwear finishes. The year-over-year change in HICP was also at 1.2%, up from 0.8% in February. This measure is more than consistent with the original estimate of 1.3%.
Furthermore, the impact of inflation measured by HICP in the first quarter of 2024 varied significantly across different socioeconomic groups. The population group with the lowest equivalent spending faced a 0.4% decline, while households with the highest spending saw the inflation rate rise by 1.7%.
Fiber2 Fashion News Desk (DP)
