Consumer confidence around the world is at high levels and these set the scene for increased consumer spending, including on wool clothing. It is interesting to see whether these high confidence levels were reflected in retail sales over the recently completed Autumn/Winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. The good news is that retail sales of clothing over the Northern Hemisphere Autumn/Winter was mostly positive. The growth in retail sales of clothing was higher in Autumn/Winter 2017 than in Autumn/Winter 2016 in four of the seven major wool consuming countries. This is very encouraging for the sale of wool clothing over the Autumn/Winter season. Hopefully it will prompt retailers to lift their orders for the 2018 Autumn/Winter season, which they will be placing in the next month or so. This will then flow through to orders back along the wool textile industry.

Further details including a table showing changes in the growth in clothing retail sales in the major wool consuming countries over the Autumn/Winter 2017 period is provided in the full version of the NCWSBA Weekly Newsletter, available to NCWSBA members.