Australian clothing prices will rise across the board for the first time in the future

According to a report by the “Sydney Morning Herald” on January 29, after the Australian dollar fell by 17%, major Australian suppliers and retailers will increase prices, and Australian clothing prices will rise across the board for the first time in five years. Suppliers have warned retailers that prices for fashion, lingerie and basic apparel will rise significantly in the second half of 2015.
According to reports, the Australian dollar has fallen 17% against the US dollar since June last year and has fallen 10% in the past 12 months, which will push up the cost of clothing imported from China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Although tariff reductions and falling cotton prices that took effect on January 1 have helped mitigate the impact of the falling Australian dollar, suppliers say price increases are unavoidable. Retail prices are forecast to rise by 6%. Analysts said that if wholesale prices rise by 10-15%, retail prices may increase by 4-6%.
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the price of women’s outerwear has fallen by 1.9% per year over the past five years, and the price of children’s clothing has fallen by 2.2% per year. This is mainly due to pressure from global and online retailers such as Zara and TopShop. Clothing and footwear prices edged up 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2014, but fell 1.5% for the year. Analysts believe that vertically integrated retailers that purchase goods directly from overseas are better able to cope with the impact of the falling Australian dollar than retailers such as David Jones, which mainly sell branded goods.