Japan Household Spending: Updated Jun 8, 2024.

 

Japan household spending up 0.5% for April, 1st rise in 14 months

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240607/p2g/00m/0bu/009000c

Ideas:

Perhaps the Japanese wage increases might have helped too to increase household spending in Japan.

Temperatures in Japan are definitely trending on the warm side and maybe consumers started to buy more summer clothing in April.

As as trend, yes, consumer/household spending has not been very good, but maybe there are spurts/sprouts here or there of better consumer spending in the future.

This summer could be turning point for the Japanese economy, as wage increases start to kick in and consumers begin to feel better about their wages and begin to think about spending consistently again.

Universities, as service providers, are probably increasing tuition as a way to make up for some lost revenue during the pandemic period.

Globally, education has become expensive for many families and then add in all of the other costs associated with education and it can become too much for some families.

At the same time, it seems like some or many Japanese university students are not working part-time jobs like in the past. For example, as a recent report has suggested  there are maybe 88,000 foreign university students in Japan working at convenience stores. This seems, maybe, Japanese university students don't want to do that kind of work anymore.

It has been suggested that 5,000 yen or lets say $50 in US, used to buy a lot in a Japanese supermarket but these days it hardly buy anything now.

Weather always affects the spending of consumers, if it gets too hot too soon or stays for too long, and of course cold weather too affects spending.

Unfortunately, Japan used to be considered a somewhat healthy country with a long life-span, but things maybe have changed some. For example its been reported that hospital and clinic costs are cheap in Japan, and as a result many people often visit hospitals or clinics even thought they might not need to.

Not to say anything good or not good, but I haven't heard much about people still getting coronavirus vaccines these days, But maybe some older people in Japan feel they still need it.

The lower income groups, whatever that category is, spend more on food than the higher income groups, or spend more of their total income than the upper income groups on food.

The Toyota situation is/could become a major challenge for the Japanese car sector, as it seems more than just Toyota are involved in the safety rigging situation, It could become a black mark on the Japanese car industry, or maybe not depending on what consumers think and feel about the situation.

For example, it might not be big news in other countries and it might not get any coverage at all, which of course is good for the Japanese car industry.

Private consumption or consumer spending is maybe 50 percent of Japan's GDP, but it doesn't feel like its that much as Japanese households, recently, just haven't spent like consumers in western countries.

Have a nice day and be safe!