Spending on luxury brands in the United States declined 6% year over year in September 2026, marking the largest monthly decrease of the third quarter, according to credit card transaction data published by Citi on Wednesday.
The September decline followed decreases of 4% in both July and August, bringing the overall reduction in luxury spending to 5% for the third quarter. This marked the first quarter of negative year-over-year growth in 2026, following increases of 5% in the first quarter and 3% in the second.
Citi noted that the slowdown occurred amid continued geopolitical uncertainty and a more demanding year-over-year comparison, which became approximately one percentage point less favourable.
The two-year stacked spending trend, which compares performance across a two-year period, deteriorated to negative 6% in September from negative 5% in August.
Luxury Product Categories Show Different Spending Trends
Citi’s analysis indicated differences in consumer spending across luxury product categories during September.
Leather goods and ready-to-wear clothing recorded sequential improvements compared with August, while jewellery and watches experienced larger declines.
The bank attributed part of the reduction in jewellery and watch spending to comparisons with the previous year’s tariff-related purchases, when consumers brought forward spending ahead of anticipated changes in import costs.
Average transaction values also moved into negative territory, recording a low-single-digit percentage decline compared with September 2025.
Meanwhile, the number of customers making transactions declined 5% year over year, although this represented an improvement in the customer growth trend.
Consumer Confidence and Economic Conditions
The reduction in luxury spending coincided with a deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence during September.
Citi referenced surveys from the Conference Board and the University of Michigan, both of which indicated less favourable assessments of business conditions and the labour market.
Inflation also remained a factor influencing consumer expectations, according to the surveys.
The bank said recent spending figures and commentary from luxury companies suggest that U.S. demand may be moving towards more normalised levels ahead of the upcoming corporate earnings season.
Citi nevertheless expects higher-income consumers to remain relatively resilient, primarily because of the effects of equity market wealth on their spending capacity.
Luxury Companies With Different Levels of US Exposure
Citi identified several publicly traded luxury and premium consumer companies with relatively high exposure to the U.S. market.
These include Tapestry (NYSE:TPR), Capri Holdings (NYSE:CPRI), Watches of Switzerland (LSE:WOSG), Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) and EssilorLuxottica (EU:EL).
The bank identified Moncler (BIT:MONC), Prada Group (USOTC:PRDSY), Swatch Group (USOTC:SWGNF), Hermes (LSE:RMS) and Burberry (LSE:BRBY) as having comparatively lower exposure to U.S. luxury demand.
The differences in geographic exposure may be relevant as companies report their quarterly financial results and provide updates on regional sales trends.
Citi’s findings are based on a selected subset of credit card transactions drawn from a panel of more than 10 million U.S. cardholders.
The figures therefore represent spending activity within the bank’s transaction sample rather than a comprehensive measure of all luxury purchases across the United States.
The third-quarter data indicate a change from the positive spending trends recorded during the first half of 2026, with upcoming company results expected to provide further information on luxury demand across individual brands and product categories.