Key facts
- The internal affairs ministry reported September household spending fell 6.8% year on year, against a median market forecast for a 3.1% decline.
- Seasonally adjusted spending fell 2.8% month on month in September, versus a forecast 0.3% rise.
- An internal affairs ministry official blamed poor weather for keeping people from going out, with Tokyo recording rain every day of September.
- The Bank of Japan weighs the spending indicator as it decides whether to raise interest rates further, with many analysts expecting a hike as soon as December.
- Japan's real wages rose for a ninth straight month in September, data issued the prior week showed, with nominal wages rising at the fastest pace since January 1997.
Japanese household spending fell 6.8% in September from a year earlier, the internal affairs ministry reported on November 10, 2026, more than the median market forecast for a 3.1% drop and the biggest fall since September 2020. It was the tenth consecutive month of decline.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, spending declined 2.8% against a forecast 0.3% uptick.
An internal affairs ministry official blamed the September slump on poor weather conditions that kept people from going out. In Tokyo, precipitation was recorded on every day of the month for the first time in history.
The indicator will be among the factors the Bank of Japan scrutinizes as it decides whether to raise interest rates further. Many analysts expect the next BOJ rate hike as soon as December.
Japan's real wages marked a ninth consecutive month of gains in September, data issued the prior week showed, with nominal wages rising at the fastest pace since January 1997.