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.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
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.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataUpon seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales dipped 13.7% upon the upward growth of 6.4% in March.
