Japan's household spending dipped 2.3 percent in March from a year earlier as the cost of fuel and other items surge, though the fall was smaller than expected.
The decline was the first since December and due in part to the comparison with a sharp rise in spending a year earlier.
The decline was smaller than the market consensus of a 3.2 percent drop and comes after a 1.1 percent rise in February and a 6.9 percent surge in January. Analysts have warned that the pace of nominal wage increases in Japan is unlikely to track rising prices, dampening spending appetites. In March, core consumer prices rose 0.8 percent -- the fastest increase in more than two years -- as oil prices soared.