Retail sales in Japan added a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in December, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday, worth 13.098 trillion yen.
That was shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the downwardly revised 0.1 percent contraction in November.
On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 0.4 percent - beating forecasts for a gain of 0.3 percent after adding a downwardly revised 1.2 percent in the previous month.
Sales from large retailers were flat on year at 2.105 trillion - also topping expectations for a decline of 1.0 percent after rising 0.9 percent a month earlier.
For the fourth quarter of 2012, retail sales added 0.2 percent on year to 35.056 trillion yen, while sales from large retailers fell an annual 0.7 percent to 5.336 trillion yen.
For all of 2012, retail sales gained 2.2 percent on year to 136.996 trillion yen, while sales from large retailers dipped an annual 0.8 percent to 19.593 trillion yen.
Wholesale sales were down 2.5 percent on year to 33.088 trillion yen in December. For the fourth quarter, wholesale sales shed 1.8 percent on year to 93.619 trillion yen - and for all of 2012, they fell 2.0 percent to 364.334 trillion yen.
Commercial sales were down 1.7 percent on year to 46.186 trillion yen, and down an annual 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter to 128.675 trillion yen. For all of 2012, commercial sales eased 0.9 percent on year to 501.329 trillion yen.
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