Japan retail sales in April declined 13.7% from the previous month, exceeding the previous estimations of 11.7%, according to the data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The lowest on-month dive in last 12 years after an 11% increase in March 2014 is mainly attributed to the first increase in consumption tax of 8% in 17 years.
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The categories that fueled the drop were consumer durables, expensive items such as designer-brand clothing, semi-durable items such as shampoo and cosmetics and non-perishable food and beverages, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The monthly retail sales in Japan dropped by 4.4% to JPY11.011 trillion ($108.398bn), as compared to the sales in April 2013.
Large retail chains have also experienced a 6.8% drop to JPY1.467 trillion () in sales on year yen, over previous estimation of 7.1% drop after 16.1% growth in March 2014.
Year-on-year commercial sales were down 3.9% to JPY36.821 trillion ($), on the back of an 8.5% spike in the previous month of the year, while sales from wholesale businesses reported an annual drop of 3.7%, as compared to 7.5% jump.
Upon seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales dipped 13.7% upon the upward growth of 6.4% in March.
