Footwear retail price increases decelerated in December, increasing only by 0.8%, as compared to the same month of the previous year, the slowest growth in 21 months. By segment, men's footwear prices grew by 0.5%, women's by 0.1% and children's by 2.9%, year-over-year.

Altogether, this data confirmed the predictions of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), which had anticipated the fastest increase rate in four decades for 2022, but had also pointed out a slowdown in this upward trend from the second semester of last year.  In a note to Footwear News, FDRA added that it expects prices to continue dropping throughout 2023, as inventory exceeds demand in the footwear market. Recent data by Adobe also shows that online prices declined by 1.6% in December 2022, year-over-year, following a four-month consecutive decrease.

Overall, the performance of the footwear sector follows the deceleration of national consumer prices. According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, consumer prices rose by 6.5% in December 2022, as compared to the same month of 2021, the smallest 12-month increase since the period that ended in October 2021; moreover, it slowed down from November's 7.1% and October's 7.7% year-over-year growth.