Japan household spending drops 11.1% in April

Passengers travelling on a Shinkansen high speed train arrive at Yokohama station in Yokohama on May 21, 2020. The April drop was partly attributed to declines in spending on transport and telecommunications, as well as on leisure activities. - AFP

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's household spending slumped again in April, falling 11.1 per cent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday (June 5), as the world's third-largest economy struggled with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The figure released by the internal affairs ministry was largely in line with market expectations of a 12.75 per cent drop. It was the seventh straight month of declines since October, when the government hiked a sales tax.