Japan supermarket sales down 1.0% in August

September 24, 2008
By Ken Worsley

After seeing a 0.9% rise in July, Japan’s supermarket sales slid 1.0% in August to 1.11 trillion yen. With the decline in August, Japan’s supermarket sales have now fallen for 20 of the past 32 months.

Here is a breakdown of August’s adjusted figures (not including stores opened within the past twelve months):

Food: +0.9%, 64.2% of total revenue
Household Products: -3.5%, 19.5% of total revenue
Clothing: -7.5%, 9.9% of total revenue
Miscellaneous Items: -0.4%, 6.0% of total revenue
Services: -4.2%, 0.4% of total revenue

Sales of clothing were pounded in August, after having been down 1.7% in July, and rainy weather in the last week of the month might have had something to do with that. Still, the only true sales growth seen at Japan’s supermarkets over recent months is in food.

We also see 67 fewer supermarkets operating than a year ago, and 25 fewer than last month. The number of employees at Japan’s supermarkets fell 6.7% in August to 427,202.

Filed Under Economic Reports, Retail, Supermarkets