Browse > Home / Economic Reports, Household Spending / Japan’s household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down

Japan’s household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down

December 1, 2008
By Ken Worsley


According to data released last Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan’s household spending dropped 3.8％ in October when compared to the same month a year ago. October was the eighth consecutive month in which household spending has fallen.

Average spending at households with two or more persons came to 291,504 yen, down 3.8% from a year ago, while spending at households with a worker as head of household fell 6.0% to 313,544 yen. Wages at workers’ households fell 0.4% to 481,746.

In terms of spending at households with two or more persons, here’s a breakdown by category:

  • Education: 16,959 yen (+0.2%)
  • Culture & recreation: 29,929 yen (-0.1%)
  • Furniture & Household Goods: 9,482 yen (-0.3%)
  • Food: 69,345 yen (-1.5%)
  • Housing: 18,028 yen (-1.5%)
  • Transportation & communication: 38,782 yen (-2.9%)
  • Clothing & footwear: 12,755 yen (-6.0%)
  • Medical care: 12,153 yen (-7.6%)
  • Other: 64,565 yen (-7.9%)
  • Fuel, electric and water: 19,505 yen (-8.2%)

In September, we rise an even split with rises in five categories and falls in the other five. October, however, was quite a different story, as spending fell in all categories except for education. Curiously, spending on fuel, electric and water dropped 8.2% while a separate report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed prices in that category rising 8.0% in October.

Here is our table tracking the past eleven months of spending on major categories:

Goods and Services Goods Only Durable & Semi Durable Goods Services Only
December 2007 +2.34% +0.99% +.97% +4.20%
January 2008 +4.39% +2.98% +8.09% +6.40%
February +1.30% +4.76% -3.65% -3.28%
March -0.90% -0.51% -10.41% -1.43%
April -1.16% -0.10% -6.56% -2.35%
May -1.94% +2.68% +8.26% -7.64%
June +1.08% +1.31% -1.92% +0.75%
July +0.20% +0.56% +2.25% -0.29%
August +1.01% +0.03% +3.01% -5.87%
September +1.51% +1.23% +1.54% +1.89%
October -0.07% +1.62% +5.27% -2.14%

Although spending on durables and semi-durables increased in October, that increase was not enough to make up for the decline in spending on services. The average household spent 113,369 yen on services in October compared to 115,849 yen a year ago. Overall spending on goods increased by about the same amount, moving from 141,471 a year ago to 143,761 this year.

The number of persons per household surveyed fell for the second consecutive month in October, from 3.44 to 3.43.

Filed Under Economic Reports, Household Spending 

Social Bookmarks:
del.icio.us:Japan's household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down digg:Japan's household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down newsvine:Japan's household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down furl:Japan's household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down reddit:Japan's household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down
Related Posts:
Household spending up 0.6% in October, household income up 0.4%
Japan February CPI up 1.0%, Unemployment up 0.1%, Household Spending Unchanged
Japan November household spending down 0.5% as spending on services stays in the red
Japan’s Household Spending up 0.4% in May
Household spending, income up in September

Comments

2 Responses to “Japan’s household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in services spending drags figures down”

  1. JAPAN Serviced Apartment,Serviced Office - Japan’s household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in … on December 2nd, 2008 1:48 am

    […] here to see the original:  Japan’s household spending down 3.8% in October, decline in … Posted by JapanServiced Office : 02/12/08 1:36 AM Post in ServicedOffice | « Office […]

  2. Japan November household spending down 0.5% as spending on services stays in the red Japan Economy News & Blog - Business, Economy, Marketing and Economic Reports on December 27th, 2008 11:31 pm

    […] October, only education spending had shown an increase; in November half of the categories increased while half declined, just as they had in September. […]

Got something to say?