Japan Household Spending Down 0.3％ in Jan.

Jiji Press

10:30 JST, March 11, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Household spending in Japan in January went down 0.3% from a year before in inflation-adjusted real terms, falling for the third straight month, government data showed Friday.

The pace of decline, however, slowed from December last year, when household spending fell 1.3% year on year.

In January, spending by households with two or more members averaged ¥301,646, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. Month on month, the spending was up 2.7%, the first increase in three months.

While spending on accommodation and dining out increased thanks to the easing of the COVID-19 situation, expenditures on food and household durables decreased due to soaring prices and a drop in stay-home demand.

Year on year, spending on food fell 0.5%, with expenditures on grain products including rice declining 4.9% and those on seafood dropping 13.0%.

Purchases of household and furniture items went down 9.1%. Spending on household durables, such as washing machines and rice cookers, declined 11.0%.

On the other hand, expenditures on education and entertainment, including accommodation fees, surged 30.7% and those on dining out jumped 14.5%.