Sales at Japan's supermarkets fell 4.5 percent on a same-store basis in November from a year earlier to 1.26 trillion yen, the 36th monthly drop in a row, the Japan Chain Stores Association said Tuesday.
The drop stemmed from falling prices and weak consumer spending, the association said.
But the margin of the fall was softened somewhat by purchases of Japan's customary yearend "oseibo" gifts, it said.
The number of customers was almost identical to the previous year's levels at the 6,419 supermarkets that belong to the association's 104 member operators, but the continuing fall in prices dented overall sales, it said.
Food sales, accounting for 52.1 percent of overall sales, fell 1.7 percent to 654.8 billion yen. Price declines were notable in product segments such as meat, suffering from the outbreak of mad cow disease, and vegetables, it said.
Sales of commodities such as sundries, furniture, medical and cosmetic goods, and electrical appliances, which made up 20.9 percent of overall sales, dropped 6.8 percent to 262.6 billion yen.
The fall chiefly reflects lower sales of goods used for overseas travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, and came despite gains in sales of cooking pots, cold medicines, down bedding and electric heaters.