Household spending, income up in September

October 31, 2007
By Ken Worsley

A report released yesterday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications tells us that in September, Japan’s average household spending increased 3.2% from the same month a year earlier, while average household income was at 431,793 yen in September, up 0.8% from a year earlier.

At the same time, consumption expenditures stood at 311,331 yen, which was 5.5% higher than last year.

First, household spending had risen 1.6% in August. This makes the September numbers seem strong, but we need to remember that they are being compared against September 2006, and that month saw a whopping 6% drop in household spending.

So what did Japanese households spend on in September? At the top of the numbers was spending on furniture and household utensils (+9.2%), transportation and communication (+7.8%), and culture and recreation (+4.8%). Showing the largest drop in spending was education (-10.9%)

67,689 yen on average was spent on food, which lead all categories in real terms. Furniture and household utensils was last, at 8,867 yen. Housing accounted for 17,378 yen in the average budget.

Filed Under Economic Reports, Household Spending, Japan