The average of household spending in Japan was down 1.9 percent on month in May, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - coming in at 287,687 yen.
That missed expectations for an increase of 0.8 percent following the 1.0 percent gain in April.
On a yearly basis, household spending sank 0.5 percent - again shy of expectations for an increase of 2.1 percent following the 1.7 percent decline in the previous month.
The average of monthly income per household stood at 489,745 yen, down 2.7 percent on year.
