Japan's retail trade declined by 12.3 percent year-on-year in May 2020, after a revised 13.9 percent slump a month earlier and compared with market consensus of an 11.6 percent fall. This was the third straight month of a drop in retail trade, amid the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 crisis that hit demand. Sales continued to fall for general merchandise (-34.9 percent vs -42.9 percent in April), fabrics apparel & accessories (-34.3 percent vs -54.1 percent), motor vehicles (-35.2 percent vs -23.7 percent), machinery & equipment (-5.8 percent vs -13.5 percent), fuel (-28.6 percent vs -22.1 percent), and others (-4.2 percent vs -9.1 percent). Also, sales of medicine & toiletry fell 3.1 percent, following a 3 percent gain in April. In contrast, sales of food & beverages grew further (2.2 percent vs 0.3 percent). On a monthly basis, retail sales rose by 2.1 percent in May, the first increase in three months, after a revised 9.9 percent tumble in April.

Retail Sales YoY in Japan averaged 4.39 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 July of 2020. source: Ministry of Economy Trade & Industry (METI)

Retail Sales YoY in Japan is expected to be -4.00 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 1.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Japan Retail Sales is projected to trend around 1.20 percent in 2021 and 1.40 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models.

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Japan Retail Sales

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-12.30 -13.90 36.50 -14.30 1971 - 2020 percent Monthly


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2020-03-30 11:50 PM Feb 1.7% -0.4% -1.2% -1.6%
2020-04-29 11:50 PM Mar -4.6% 1.6% -4.7% -5.2%
2020-05-28 11:50 PM Apr -13.7% -4.7% -11.5% -12.8%
2020-06-28 11:50 PM May -12.3% -13.9% -11.6% -9.8%
2020-07-28 11:50 PM Jun -12.3% -4%
2020-08-29 11:50 PM Jul
2020-09-29 11:50 PM Aug
2020-10-29 11:50 PM Sep -3.2%
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
Japan Retail Sales Fall for 3rd Month
Japan's retail trade declined by 12.3 percent year-on-year in May 2020, after a revised 13.9 percent slump a month earlier and compared with market consensus of an 11.6 percent fall. This was the third straight month of a drop in retail trade, amid the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 crisis that hit demand. Sales continued to fall for general merchandise (-34.9 percent vs -42.9 percent in April), fabrics apparel & accessories (-34.3 percent vs -54.1 percent), motor vehicles (-35.2 percent vs -23.7 percent), machinery & equipment (-5.8 percent vs -13.5 percent), fuel (-28.6 percent vs -22.1 percent), and others (-4.2 percent vs -9.1 percent). Also, sales of medicine & toiletry fell 3.1 percent, following a 3 percent gain in April. In contrast, sales of food & beverages grew further (2.2 percent vs 0.3 percent). On a monthly basis, retail sales rose by 2.1 percent in May, the first increase in three months, after a revised 9.9 percent tumble in April.
2020-06-29
Japan Retail Sales Sink 13.7% YoY
Japan's retail trade tumbled 13.7 percent from a year earlier in April 2020 after a 4.7 decline in the prior month, falling for the sixth time in seven months. Sales were mainly dragged by general merchandise (-42.9 percent vs -20.9 percent in March), fabrics (-53.6 percent vs -22.7 percent), and machinery equipment (-12.9 percent vs -7.1 percent). In contrast, medicine & toiletry sales rose 3 percent (vs 1.6 percent). On a monthly basis, sales declined 9.6 percent after declining 4.6 percent in March.
2020-05-29
Japan Retail Sales Sink 4.6% YoY
Japan's retail trade tumbled 4.6 percent from a year earlier in March 2020, falling for the fifth time in six months. Sales were mainly dragged by general merchandise (-21 percent vs -4.6 percent in February), fabrics (-22.3 percent vs -3.5 percent), machinery equipment (-6.7 percent vs 1.9 percent), and fuel (-6.5 percent vs 2.8 percent). In contrast, medicine & toiletry sales rose 1.5 percent (vs 9.2 percent). On a monthly basis, sales declined 4.5 percent after edging up 0.5 percent in February.
2020-04-30
Japan Retail Sales Tumble for 4th Month
Japan's retail sales shrank 0.4 percent year-on-year in January 2020, following a 2.6 percent fall in the previous month and compared to market consensus of a 1.1 percent drop. That was the fourth straight month of decline in retail trade as sales were down for general merchandise (-3.4 percent vs -5.1 percent), fabrics apparel & accessories (-1.2 percent vs -6.4 percent), motor vehicles (-1.7 percent vs -3.6 percent), machinery & equipment (-2.9 percent vs -11.1 percent), and others (-1 percent vs -4 percent). Meanwhile, there was a rebound in sales for food & beverages (0.8 percent vs -0.2 percent) and fuel (0.3 percent vs -3.3 percent), while sales grew at a faster clip for medicine & toiletry stores (3.9 percent vs 3.4 percent). On a monthly basis, retail sales expanded 0.6 percent in January, accelerating from a 0.2 percent climb in December.
2020-02-28

Japan Retail Sales
In Japan, the year-over-year change in Retail sales compares the aggregated sales of retail goods and services during a certain month to the same month a year ago.