Forget the Japanese craze luxury branded handbags for now, Japanese consumers spend about 15-17% of their monthly budgets on just food. This compares to just 5-7% in the US and between 9% to 14% in western countries of Europe. On the other hand side, Japanese spend a surprising low 8% on health. Of course, this depends on the type of household surveyed. Households of 2 or more earners spent an average of 17.2% of their monthly spending on food in 2007, and household with kids more on health related items.

The only category larger than food is ‘Other’, which includes gifts and free spending pocket money. In 2007, Japanese households also put a larger proportion into savings, adding 19.1% of household income per month. So, food spending is particularly high in Japan, lmainly caused by high food retail prices. (METI)