Supermarket sales in Japan drop 4.1 pct in October

Source: Xinhua | 2019-11-22

Japan's supermarket sales in October decreased 4.1 percent from a year earlier on a same-store basis, hit by bad weather including a typhoon and the consumption tax hike on Oct. 1, details from the Japan Chain Stores Association showed Thursday.

According to the association's figures, sales at 10,522 supermarkets operated by 55 companies totaled 975.2 billion yen (9 billion U.S. dollars). In September, sales on a same-store basis logged the first rise in six months due to heightened demand before the 2-percentage-point tax increase.

The industry body's figures also showed that sales of household items, such as home appliances and toilet paper, dropped 7.2 percent from a year earlier, reflecting decreased demand following the last-minute rush to beat the tax hike.

Meanwhile, sales of food items, which were exempted from the tax increase, fell 1.3 percent, affected by low market prices for agricultural products. Clothing sales dropped 15.1 percent as warm weather discouraged demand for winter clothing.

"October sales were worse than expected," an association official said. "We are concerned this is not just because of the tax hike but also reflects weakness in consumer sentiment."