Consumer confidence in Japan, the world’s fourth largest economy when ranked by gross domestic product, eased in October 2024.
Japan’s Cabinet Office said the Consumer Confidence Index (seasonally adjusted series) in October 2024 was 36.2, down 0.7 points from the previous month.
Index categories were:
- Overall livelihood: 34.2 (down 0.2 from the previous month)
- Income growth: 39.4 (down 0.7)
- Employment: 41.6 (down 0.6)
- Willingness to buy durable goods: 29.7 (down 1.3)
The percentage of people who expected prices to increase in October was 93.2%, an increase of 0.1% from the previous month, while 3.2% expected them to be steady (same as previous month) and 1.9% expected them to fall (down 0.1 percentage points).
Japan is Australia’s second largest trading partner after China, buying natural gas, coal, iron ore and beef among other commodities and products.
The monthly survey, which started in 1957, samples consumer perceptions of livelihood, income growth, employment, willingness to buy durable goods, and asset value.
It covers 8,400 households out of a survey area of 54.1 million households.