Japan Personal Spending Rises the Most in 3 Months

2025-05-08 23:36 By Farida Husna 1 min. read

Japan’s household spending rose 2.1% yoy in March 2024, reversing a 0.5% drop in the previous month and beating market forecasts of a 0.2% gain.

It was the strongest growth since December, driven by a third straight increase in utility spending amid colder weather (7.2% vs 7.6% in February).

Also, spending rebounded for furniture and household goods (3.3% vs -8.7%) and education (24.2% vs -1.9%), while continuing to rise for transport and communication (2.0% vs 4.6%), culture and recreation (5.1% vs 2.6%), other consumption (2.6% vs 4.7%), and miscellaneous items (4.1% vs 9.4%).

Food expenditures fell much slower (-0.7% vs. -4.5%) amid government efforts to offset soaring rice prices.

Drops in clothing and footwear (-3.0% vs -12.5%) and housing (-2.6% vs -8.1%) also eased, though medical care fell more sharply (-8.3% vs -7.1%).

On a monthly basis, personal spending rose 0.4%, defying consensus for a 0.5% drop but easing from February’s 3.5% surge, the strongest in nearly three years.



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