The average of household spending was down 2.5 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - coming in at 293,161 yen.
That beat expectations for a decline of 4.3 percent following the 5.0 percent decline in July.
On a monthly basis, household spending jumped 3.9 percent - again topping forecasts for a gain of 0.9 percent following the 2.7 percent fall in the previous month.
The average of monthly income per household stood at 544,043 yen, down 6.9 percent on year.
