The consumer price index (CPI) across Australia’s clothing and footwear sector has risen by 5.4 per cent year-on-year in October 2025, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
This has added to an overall bump up in year-on-year inflation by 3.8 per cent across all industries.
In original terms, CPI growth for fashion was the second-highest between October 2024 and October 2025, on par with education and behind housing, which rose 5.9 per cent. Its annual growth is up from a 3.8 per cent rise in the 12 months to September 2025.
In seasonally adjusted terms, clothing and footwear inflation was up 5.8 per cent, just behind housing, which rose 6 per cent year-on-year.
Accessories (up 12.4 per cent) was the main contributor due to an increase in jewellery prices as retailers passed on record high gold and silver prices.
ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said this week’s release marks the transition from quarterly CPI to monthly reported CPI by the national research firm.
“The time series for the complete monthly CPI goes back to April 2024, which is when the ABS began collecting prices for a number of Expenditure Classes more frequently,” Marquardt said.
According to the ABS, while clothing and footwear inflation was elevated, food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as recreation and culture, were the key contributors to surging annual inflation. Both these categories rose 3.2 per cent in original terms.
When prices for some items change significantly, the ABS noted that measures of underlying inflation, like the trimmed mea,n can give more insights into how inflation is trending.
Marquardt said trimmed mean inflation for the complete monthly CPI was 3.3 per cent in the 12 months to October 2025, up from 3.2 per cent in the 12 months to September.
Annual goods inflation was 3.8 per cent, up from 3.7 per cent in the 12 months to September. The main contributor was electricity (up 37.1 per cent).
Annual services inflation was 3.9 per cent, up from 3.5 per cent in the 12 months to September. The main contributors were rents (up 4.2 per cent), medical and hospital services (up 5.1 per cent) and domestic holiday travel and accommodation (up 7.1 per cent).