As the number of foreign tourists continues to increase, sales of duty-free goods at department stores across the country over the past year reached a record high, surpassing pre-coronavirus levels.
According to the Japan Department Stores Association, sales of duty-free goods at department stores nationwide last year amounted to 348.4 billion yen, a new record high, surpassing 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.
Although the number of foreign visitors was below pre-coronavirus levels, the weaker yen led to an increase in purchases of high-priced items such as expensive brand items, pushing up sales.
In addition, looking at the number of customers by country, before the coronavirus pandemic, the number of customers from China accounted for approximately 70%, but last year this number decreased to approximately 50%, while the number of customers is also diversifying to Southeast Asia, Europe, America, etc. It's a feature.
Furthermore, the recovery movement is spreading not only to large cities such as the Tokyo metropolitan area, but also to stores in rural areas.
On the other hand, overall sales were 5,421.1 billion yen, which was 9.2% higher than the previous year compared to existing stores, but 3% lower than 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.
The Japan Department Stores Association says, ``We hope that the strong recovery momentum in inbound demand will continue this year.''