Japan Data

Overseas Visitor Spending Slows in Japan: Australians Spend Most on Average

Economy

Now the wave of “explosive buying” by Chinese tourists has passed, visitor spending in Japan has slowed down.

Spending by overseas visitors to Japan reached a new high of ¥4.5 trillion in 2018, based on preliminary figures. Even so, this is still only 56% of the government-set goal of ¥8 trillion to be met by 2020. Each visitor spent ¥152,594 on average. In 2015, when bakugai (explosive buying) shopping sprees by visitors from China were making the news, spending per person stood at ¥176,000; however that trend has ended and the average has steadily decreased over the last three years.

The majority of spending was on goods purchases (34.7%), followed by accommodation (29.3%), and food and drink (21.7%).

Visitors from China accounted for more than one-third of spending with ¥1.53 trillion, ahead of South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. These four areas alone made up 67% of the total spending. Apart from Asia, the United States also accounted for a large proportion of spending.

Despite the big-spending reputation, on average China ranked only fourth with ¥223,640. Australians spent most per trip with ¥242,050. Apart from Australia, average spending was highest among visitors from Europe and North America, with less spending by those from Asia. This is partly due to visitors from further away staying on average for longer periods of time. The government is planning to focus more on attracting visitors from the West.

Country/Region Spending Per Person (¥)
Australia 242,050
Spain 236,996
Italy 224,268
China 223,640
Britain 219,725
United States 191,352
South Korea 77,559
Taiwan 128,069
Hong Kong 154,460

The top five countries/regions for spending per person are highlighted in green.
Compiled by Nippon.com based on data from Japan Tourism Agency.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)

tourism industry