In a survey that indexes consumption trends based on credit card usage information, the first half of last month increased by 6% compared to the same period two years ago, before the spread of the new coronavirus infection.

It seems that the background is that consumption at department stores has picked up due to the cancellation of the second state of emergency.

Nowcasting, a data analysis company, and JCB, a major credit card company, publish an index that looks at consumption after protecting privacy based on card usage information.



According to it, the index from the 1st to the 15th of last month was 6% higher than the same period two years ago, which was before the spread of the new corona.



This is the first increase in five months since the first half of November last year, compared to before the spread of the infection.



Looking at the breakdown, "liquor stores" accounted for 32.5% and "supermarkets" accounted for 12.1%, showing a significant increase in each.



In addition, "department store" was -10.6% and "transportation" was -10.7%, which is about 10 points smaller than the previous half month.



The company surveyed believes that the background is that the second state of emergency was lifted the previous month.



On the other hand, from the latter half of April onward, the company surveyed said, "There is a risk that consumption related to going out will decrease again due to priority measures such as declaration of emergency and prevention of spread in some areas."