According to a survey that indexes consumption trends based on credit card usage information, last month it increased by 0.7% compared to before the spread of the new coronavirus.
This is the fourth consecutive month of increase, but the increase has narrowed due to the influence of the Omicron strain.
Data analysis company Nowcast and credit card giant JCB have released an index that looks at consumption trends while protecting privacy based on card usage information.
According to it, last month's index was 0.7% higher than the average for the same month for the three years to 2018, which was before the spread of the new coronavirus.
This was the fourth consecutive month of increase, but the increase was smaller than the 4% increase in November and December last year.
Looking at the breakdown, so-called nesting consumption increased by
34.6% for
▽ "liquor stores" and 14.8% for "supermarkets"
.
However,
▽ "Travel" was minus 73.6%
▽ "Transportation" was minus 42.1%
▽ "Eating out" was minus 24.7%,
both of which increased by more than 10 points compared to the previous month.
According to the company surveyed, "The rapid expansion of Omicron strains has caused consumption to cool down at a stretch from the recovery trend up to that point. The recovery in consumption depends on when the infection peaks out."