Shoe prices jumped again in May, the fastest in nearly four years, according to the latest data from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA).

In fact, shoe prices soared 5.2 percent in May, the sharpest advance in 45 months, the FDRA noted. May also marks the fifth time in the last six months that footwear price gains have accelerated.

All key target markets saw year-over-year increases last month, led by women’s retail jumping 6.2 percent, the most in 45 months. Men’s shoe prices advanced 5.4 percent last month, the most in 54 months, while children’s footwear prices rose 2.3 percent in May.

Gary Raines, chief economist at FDRA, told FN that May’s sharp advance suggests other factors, namely onerous tariffs, as the reason behind the recent surge as these tariffs work their way across the supply chain. 

“This latest read on retail footwear prices pegs year-to-date footwear prices up 3.0 percent, strongly suggesting full-year prices will rise at the third-fastest rate in 34 years,” Raines said. “This latest read also supports our earlier caution that price pressure would continue to permeate the footwear supply chain to store shelves and into less confident footwear shoppers’ pockets in 2026.”

Last month’s increase in retail footwear prices also comes at the same time the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that overall consumer prices in May increased the highest in three years.

According to the bureau’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, retail inflation rose 4.2 percent in May from a year earlier after rising 3.8 percent in April.

The report also saw prices increase 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in May, after rising 0.6 percent in April. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the core CPI rose 0.2 percent in May and increased 2.9 percent over the same time last year.

This latest data follows a recent World Footwear Business Conditions Survey, which found that almost 90 percent of global shoe executives who responded to the study expect retail footwear prices to rise by at least 1.5 percent over the next six months. This was due in part to concerns over cost pressures, with the U.S.-Iran conflict creating a negative impact because of higher logistics, raw material, input and energy costs.