Japan's supermarket sales in May rose 0.1 percent year-on-year on a same-store basis, marking the 15th consecutive month of increase, driven by higher prices for vegetables and other farm products, industry data showed Tuesday.
Sales at 9,183 supermarkets operated by 47 companies totaled 1.03 trillion yen ($6.5 billion), the Japan Chain Stores Association said. Food sales, accounting for 70 percent of overall sales, grew 2.2 percent.
While the average number of items purchased per person declined as inflation made consumers more budget-minded, rising prices for agricultural products boosted supermarket sales in the reporting month, the association said. Sales of clothing items fell 9.0 percent due to unseasonable weather.
"Consumption will not be strong unless wage hikes spread," one of its officials said.
Restaurant sales, meanwhile, increased 6.3 percent in May from a year before, largely helped by an increase in inbound tourists due to the continued depreciation of the yen, the Japan Foodservice Association said.
Domestic consumers, hit by higher inflation, are becoming more frugal and looking for high-quality, reasonably priced products, it said.
