Japan Retail Sales Climb 2.1% On Year In December

(RTTNews) - The total value of retail sales in Japan was up 2.1 percent on year in December, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday - coming in at 15.515 trillion yen.

That missed forecasts for an increase of 4.7 percent following the 5.4 percent jump in November.

Retail sales fell 2.9 percent on month.

Commercial sales added 0.4 percent on year and 0.6 percent on month to 55.106 trillion yen, while wholesale sales fell 0.2 percent on year and climbed 2.3 percent in year to 39.591 trillion yen.

For the fourth quarter of 2023, retail sales gained 3.8 percent on year but shed 1.7 percent on quarter at 42.989 trillion yen.

For all of 2023, retail sales climbed 5.6 percent to 162.996 trillion yen.