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Tax-exempt spending falls for fifth consecutive month compared to previous year.<\/p>\n
Some of the biggest beneficiaries of Japan\u2019s inbound tourism boom have been department stores. Stop by branches of any of the major chains in Tokyo, Osaka, or other popular destinations for foreign tourists, and you\u2019re sure to see a line of people waiting to go through the procedure at the tax exemption service counter, which saves non-residents 10 percent on most purchases of non-consumable items that they\u2019ll be taking back to their home countries.<\/p>\n
However, those lines aren\u2019t quite as long these days, according to data from the Japan Department Stores Association. The organization releases monthly figures for foreign tourist spending and visitor numbers at 87 department stores that make up its Inbound Tourism Promotion Committee, and the numbers for July, the most recently calculated period, are down considerably compared to a year ago.<\/p>\n
In July, total tax-exempt purchases by foreign tourists at the department stores came to 40.34 billion yen (about US$272.5 million). While that\u2019s still a whole lot of money, it\u2019s down 36.3 percent compared to July of 2024.<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t a midsummer fluke, either. While tax-exempt sales this past January and February were up compared to 2024, they\u2019ve been down every month since.<\/p>\n
Tax-exempt sales to foreign tourists in 2025, compared to same period for previous year
\u25cf January: Up 54.9 percent
\u25cf February: Up 14.5 percent
\u25cf March: Down 10.7 percent
\u25cf April: Down 26.7 percent
\u25cf May: Down 40.8 percent
\u25cf June: Down 40.6 percent
\u25cf July: Down 36.3 percent<\/p>\n
The dip in tax-exempt shopping isn\u2019t being offset by greater spending on non-exempt items by foreign tourists either, as the association says that was down even more, 40.6 percent, in July. It\u2019s not just spending that\u2019s down, either, as the number of foreign tourist shoppers for the department stores dropped 16.7 percent in July compared to 2024, the third consecutive month to do so.<\/p>\n
Number of foreign tourists making purchases in 2025, compared to same period for previous year
\u25cf January: Up 48.4 percent
\u25cf February: Up 29 percent
\u25cf March: Up 13.4 percent
\u25cf April: Up 3.1 percent
\u25cf May: Down 5.4 percent
\u25cf June: Down 13.8 percent
\u25cf July: Down 16.7 percent<\/p>\n
And if department store operators are looking for a possible silver lining in the form of a shift to a smaller number of foreign tourist customers opening their wallets wider on an individual basis, that doesn\u2019t appear to be happening either. The data for July says that the average per-person spending by foreign tourist customers was 84,000 yen, which, once again, is a decrease compared to the previous year, this time by 23.6 percent.<\/p>\n
The Japan Department Stores Association\u2019s press release doesn\u2019t offer any theories as to why foreign tourist spending has been cooling off, and there hasn\u2019t been any significant decrease in the total number of inbound international travelers to Japan. With approximately 476,000 foreign tourists visiting the report\u2019s stores this past July, it\u2019s not like they\u2019ve completely lost intertest, but the figures suggest that leaning heavily into courting luxury travelers might no longer be as lucrative a strategy for Japanese department stores as it has been for the past few years.<\/p>\n
Source: Japan Department Stores Association<\/a> via Ryutsu News<\/a> via Jin<\/a> Like this:<\/p>\n Like Loading…<\/p>\n
Top image: Pakutaso<\/a>
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