Japan retailers suffer first profit drop in 3 years as inflation bites

Thrifty consumers reduce purchases while labor and sales costs grow

Supermarkets and convenience stores, which sell daily necessities, were hit especially hard in the September-November quarter. (Photo by Yutaka Miyaguchi)

KOSUKE OKAMOTO, Nikkei staff writer

January 16, 2025 03:23 JST

TOKYO -- Major Japanese retailers suffered a 5% drop in operating profit on the year in September-November, as protracted inflation squeezes household spending on daily necessities like food.

The total for 89 publicly traded retailers came to 495.6 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for the quarter, according to data compiled by Nikkei. This marks the first year-on-year decline for the quarter since 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions were in place.