International Visitor Spending in Japan Tops ¥5 Trillion for First Time

Preliminary figures released by the Japan Tourism Agency show that annual spending by international visitors to Japan in 2023 reached a record high of ¥5.3 trillion, surpassing the former high of ¥4.8 trillion set in 2019 just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time for spending to exceed ¥5 trillion. Spending was bolstered last year by the recovery in demand for Japan-bound tourism since May, following the lifting of travel restrictions put in place during the pandemic, as well as the impact from a weak yen and rising prices. Per-capita spending among overseas travelers to Japan rose to ¥212,000, as compared to ¥159,000 in 2019.

By consumption category, lodging topped the list for spending, totaling over ¥1.8 trillion, followed by shopping at roughly ¥1.4 trillion and spending on food and beverages at around ¥1.2 trillion. In 2023, outlay on lodging accounted for 34.6% of all spending, as compared to 29.4% in 2019. In contrast, the relative share of shopping to overall spending fell from 34.7% to 26.4% during that same time period. These figures suggest that the main purpose for travel shifted from shopping to cultural experiences.

The countries or regions whose visitors spent the most in Japan were Taiwan, accounting for 14.7% of all spending, followed by China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) at 14.4%, South Korea at 14.1%, the United States at 11.5%, and Hong Kong at 9.1%. Visitor spending is likely to rebound even stronger if there is a return to the pre-pandemic numbers of Chinese visitors, who accounted for one-third of all spending among overseas visitors in 2019.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)