Japan Tourism Agency reported that spending in Japan by international visitors in the third quarter of 2017 (July to September) increased by 26.7% year on year to 1,230.5 billion JPY, exceeding 1,000 billion JPY during two consecutive quarters.

Spending per capita was also up 6.6% to 165,412 JPY, about 10,000 JPY higher than a year earlier, improving from year-on-year reductions since the first quarter of 2016.

The total for the first nine months of 2017 was up 15% to 3,276.1 billion JPY. The graph below shows travel spending and the number of international visitors in the past four years. The preliminary figures for the third quarter of 2017 might be revised in the future.

As far as spending per capita is concerned, the highest amount was 260,000 JPY for visitors from Vietnam, followed by 238,000 JPY for visitors from China, and 235,000 JPY for visitors from France.

The biggest market (multiplying visitors by spending per capita) was predominantly China with 543.2 billion JPY, accounting for 44.1% of the total, followed by Taiwan with 149 billion JPY (share of 12.1%) and South Korea with 136.1 billion JPY (share of 11.1%). The spending by visitors from China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and the USA accounted for 80% of the total.

The graph below shows the spending amounts and composition by market:

The biggest share of spending was for shopping (34.2% or 420.4 billion JPY), followed by lodging (29.7% or 366.5 billion JPY) and meals (21.1% or 259.1 billion JPY). As far as spending per capita by expense item is concerned, visitors from Europe, the USA and Australia paid more money for lodging, and a visitor from Germany spent on average 100,000 JPY for lodging. The highest spending in entertainment is for a visitor from Russia (10,700 JPY); the highest spending in shopping is for a visitor from Vietnam (119,000 JPY) then from China (105,000 JPY).

The table below details the spending by market:

In Japanese