TOKYO: Japanese household spending in April dived 11.1 percent from a year earlier in price-adjusted real terms, the biggest drop since comparable data became available in January 2001, reflecting voluntary outing restrictions amid the coronavirus crisis, the government said Friday.

Consumption expenditures per household with at least two members came to 267,922 yen, down for the seventh straight month, the internal affairs ministry said.

Spending on amusement park admission and attraction fees, package tours and cultural facility entrance fees all slumped over 90 percent, as people refrained from going out amid a state of emergency declared over the virus in early April.

Expenditures on suits plunged 79.9 percent, as ceremonies with a large number of participants were canceled or postponed and more and more people switched to teleworking.

Spending on drinking at restaurants and other places plummeted 90.3 percent, while expenditures on railway fares plunged 89.9 percent.

"As a whole, the drops of household spending continued to expand," a ministry official said.

Meanwhile, spending on electricity, gas, water bills rose 7.4 percent thanks to robust "nesting" demand amid the spread of teleworking.

Expenditures on pasta jumped 70 percent, while those on instant noodles surged 40 percent. Spending on hygiene goods including masks rose 2.2-fold.

JIJI Press