Japan Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall in December

2026-01-29 23:56 By Chusnul Chotimah 1 min. read

Retail sales in Japan unexpectedly dropped 0.9% year-on-year in December 2025, reversing an upwardly revised 1.1% increase in the previous month and defying market expectations of a 0.7% rise.

This marked the first decline in retail turnover since August, reflecting that households had already met their year-end needs in the previous month, supported by rising wages.

Sales decreased for clothing and personal goods (-11.6%), fuel (-10.8%), non-store retailers (-5.8%), department stores (-0.5%), and food and beverages (-0.4%).

By contrast, retail trade increased for other retail categories (6.1%), automobiles (5.9%), machinery and equipment (5.9%), and cosmetics (0.1%).

On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 2.0% in December after an upwardly revised 0.7% gain in November, marking the first monthly decline in four months.



News Stream
Japan Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall in December
Retail sales in Japan unexpectedly dropped 0.9% year-on-year in December 2025, reversing an upwardly revised 1.1% increase in the previous month and defying market expectations of a 0.7% rise. This marked the first decline in retail turnover since August, reflecting that households had already met their year-end needs in the previous month, supported by rising wages. Sales decreased for clothing and personal goods (-11.6%), fuel (-10.8%), non-store retailers (-5.8%), department stores (-0.5%), and food and beverages (-0.4%). By contrast, retail trade increased for other retail categories (6.1%), automobiles (5.9%), machinery and equipment (5.9%), and cosmetics (0.1%). On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 2.0% in December after an upwardly revised 0.7% gain in November, marking the first monthly decline in four months.
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