Japan's average monthly spending by households in 2020 fell a real 5.3% from the previous year, marking the sharpest drop on record, as people refrained from going out due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Friday.
The decline was the largest since comparable data became available in 2001, topping a 2.9% decrease logged in 2014 when the consumption tax was raised from 5% to 8% in April that year, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
Monthly spending by households with two or more people averaged ¥277,926 last year, it said. The figure had increased a real 0.9% in 2019 following a 0.4% fall in 2018.