Retail sales in Japan declined by 0.3 percent year-on-year in December 2020, following a 0.6 percent and compared to market estimates of a 0.6 percent increase. The largest declines were seen in general merchandise (-9.5 percent vs. -10.1 percent), fuel (-8.4 percent vs -10.2 percent), and fabrics & apparel (-4.4 percent vs -7.7 percent). In contrast, main positive contributors were: machinery & equipment (16.4 percent vs. 26.2 percent), motor vehicles (3.9 percent vs 3.0 percent) and medicine & toiletry stores (1.7 percent vs. -0.8 percent). On a monthly basis, retail sales declined by 0.8 percent in December, after a 2.1 percent drop in November. source: Ministry of Economy Trade & Industry (METI)
Retail Sales YoY in Japan averaged 4.33 percent from 1971 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 36.50 percent in January of 1979 and a record low of -14.30 percent in March of 1998. This page provides the latest reported value for - Japan Retail Sales YoY - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Japan Retail Sales - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on February of 2021.
Retail Sales YoY in Japan is expected to be 1.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Retail Sales YoY in Japan to stand at 1.20 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Japan Retail Sales is projected to trend around 1.40 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models.