Retail sales in Japan contracted 2.3 percent on year in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Thursday, standing at 10.525 trillion yen.
That missed forecasts for a decline of 1.8 percent following the 1.1 percent fall in January.
Sales from large-scale stores dropped an annual 3.7 percent to 1.424 trillion yen - well shy of expectations for a contraction of 1.5 percent following the 3.5 percent drop in the previous month.
The data also showed that commercial sales shed 1.6 percent on year to 36.742 trillion yen, while wholesale sales fell an annual 1.3 percent to 26.217 trillion yen.
Seasonally adjusted, retail sales added 1.6 percent on month - beating forecasts for a gain of 0.5 percent following the downwardly revised 0.2 percent slide in January.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.