Japan's household spending drops 3.9 pct in January

Source: Xinhua | 2020-03-07

Household spending in Japan dropped 3.9 percent in January from a year earlier, declining for a fourth straight month, the government said in a report on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, spending by households with two or more people totaled 287,173 yen (2,700 U.S. dollars ) in real terms in the recording period.

The decline was attributed to warmer weather seeing a decline in outlays on winter activities like skiing and spending on winter apparel and goods.

The ministry also said the consumption tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent on Oct. 1 also dented consumption in the reporting period.

The latest decline in household spending comes on the heels of a 4.8 percent drop booked in December, a 5.1 percent slump logged in October and a 2.0 percent fall registered in November, the ministry's data showed.

Specifically, the statistic bureau said that spending on transportation and communication retreated 7.9 percent, and outlays on education and recreation dropped 6.1 percent in the recording period.

Owing to an increase in purchases of surgical masks and sanitizer, healthcare spending marked an uptick in the recording period, however, rising 3.1 percent, the statistics bureau said.

Household spending is a key indicator of private consumption and accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.