Japan’s Household Spending Down 0.5％ in Feb.

Jiji Press

13:23 JST, April 4, 2025

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Household consumption spending in Japan fell 0.5% from a year earlier in inflation-adjusted real terms to ¥290,511 on average in February, marking the first drop in three months, the internal affairs ministry said Friday.

Spending on foodstuffs sank 4.5% to extend its downtrend to five months amid spikes in prices for vegetables, such as broccoli and tomatoes, and that on clothes and shoes plunged 12.5% reflecting slow demand for spring items due to cold waves, which caused heavy snowfall in many parts of the country.

The ministry also attributed the year-on-year spending drop to fewer days in the reporting month than in the previous year’s February, which had a leap day.

Meanwhile, households boosted spending on heat,light and water by 7.6% amid the cold weather, with their electricity bills jumping 11.4%, in particular. The government’s resumption of subsidies for utility bills helped encourage the use of electricity and gas.

Expenditures for transportation and communications went up 4.6%, thanks to reactivated purchases of automobiles after production halts by some automakers a year before.