Japanese people have budgeted less than 60,000 yen ($410) on average for their summer break this year, down 2.6 percent from last year amid persistent inflation and a weak yen, recent survey results showed.
The decline to an average of 58,561 yen comes despite sharp pay increases by large domestic firms following "shunto" spring wage negotiations and a tax cut program by the government that began in June.
Among responses obtained between June 27 and July 1 from 5,000 people aged between 15 and 79 nationwide, 69.6 percent said their summer holiday budgeting had been impacted either "significantly" or "somewhat" by inflation and the weak yen, according to the survey conducted by marketing firm Intage Inc.
In a separate, multiple-choice component of the survey, "inflation and the weak yen" was the top reason for respondents cutting their budgets, accounting for 51.5 percent of answers.
Among other reasons, 35.2 percent of respondents said they were budgeting less because of a lack of wage increases, while 33.1 percent did so "due to rising electricity and gas prices."
Inflation and the yen's depreciation were also the biggest reasons for people increasing their budgets, with 26.9 percent of the respondents citing them.
Regarding how they would spend their holidays, only 2.1 percent said they planned to take overseas trips, with the average budget for such travel down 13.8 percent from 2023 to 443,058 yen.
Travel plans to European destinations decreased, but increased for closer and less costly destinations in Asia, the data showed.
The largest group of respondents, at 36.9 percent, said they would "spend their summer holidays at home," followed by 19.1 percent who said they planned to travel domestically. A total of 18.5 percent said they would go "shopping and dining," while 12.9 percent responded that they would return to their hometowns.
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