The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan reported a seasonally adjusted fall of 1.2% in Japan's retail sales in March, amounting to a total of 14.691 billion yen. Nonetheless, compared to the same month last year, the sales increased by 1.2%. Despite this decrease in March, sales in February had risen by 1.7% from the previous month and made a 4.7% yearly gain.
In the first quarter of 2024, sales showed no change from the previous quarter, but there was a rise of 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year to reach a total of 40.753 billion yen.
In terms of commercial and wholesale sales for March, the market didn't perform as well - commercial sales dipped 1.0% monthly and 1.7% yearly, totaling 53.577 billion yen. Similarly, wholesale sales saw a drop of 0.9% from the previous month and a 2.7% decrease from last year, amounting to 38.886 billion yen.