TOKYO, Jul 6 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s household spending in May soared 11.6 percent, compared to a year earlier, after jumping sharply the previous month, government statistics revealed today.
Average spending by households with two or more people in real terms stood at 281,063 yen (2,500 U.S. dollars) in May, according to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The figure continued to rebound from a plunge last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The year-on-year gain logged in May was the second-largest since comparable data became available in Jan, 2001, following a 13.0-percent surge in Apr.
Average spending increased for the third consecutive month, beginning in Mar with a 6.2-percent rise.
However, spending in the reporting month fell 2.1 percent from Apr, on a seasonally-adjusted month-to-month basis, logging the first decrease in four months.
In May, 2020, household spending plummeted a record 16.2 percent as the Japanese government announced the first state of emergency over COVID-19, in the previous month and then expanded it nationwide.
Household spending, a key indicator of private consumption, constitutes more than half of Japan’s gross domestic product, according to local media reports.– NNN-NHK