A Table Where Food Takes 28.6% of Spending | Reading the 2025 Family Income and Expenditure Survey

In 2025, as price hikes continued, how did household food spending change? Looking at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ Family Income and Expenditure Survey (households of two or more people) alongside the Consumer Price Index reveals a dining table where “the amount paid increased, but the amount bought decreased.”

Nominal Up 5.5%, Real Down 1.2%

Spending on food in 2025 averaged 94,895 yen per household per month. It increased 5.5% in nominal terms from the previous year, but after subtracting the rise in prices, it decreased 1.2% in real terms. The share of food expenses in consumption expenditure, the so-called Engel’s coefficient, was 28.6%, up 0.3 points from the previous year.

By category, “cereals,” including rice and bread, were 8,808 yen per month, up 18.7% nominally and down 2.6% in real terms. “Confectionery” was 9,211 yen, up 5.9% nominally and down 2.8% in real terms. “Beverages” were also down 3.1% in real terms. Fish and seafood (down 2.7% in real terms), meat (down 2.0%), and vegetables and seaweed (down 2.3%) also declined in real terms, showing that the impact of price increases was not limited to specific items.

Key point: In 2025, non-glutinous rice (excluding Koshihikari) rose 67.2% year on year, coffee beans 39.8%, and chocolate 35.7% (Consumer Price Index). While households reduced real purchases of cereals and confectionery, eating out rose 1.8% in real terms to 16,563 yen per month.

The Items That Went Up in Price

In the 2025 average Consumer Price Index, non-glutinous rice (excluding Koshihikari) rose 67.2% year on year, coffee beans 39.8%, chocolate 35.7%, and onigiri rice balls 15.8%. In March, the government also began releasing stockpiled rice. From staple foods to treats, it was a year in which both poor domestic harvests and international market prices affected the dining table.

Eating Out Was Not Reduced

What stands out is dining out. While food spending overall declined in real terms, dining out reached 16,563 yen per month, up 5.9% in nominal terms and 1.8% in real terms, making it one of the few food categories to increase in real terms. People may be reviewing how much they eat at home, while still holding on to the time they spend eating out. That sense of priority comes through. At the same time, spending on dairy and eggs rose 1.4% in real terms, suggesting a shift toward relatively affordable ingredients.

What is behind raw material prices? Even though cacao has fallen back by half and Why International Coffee Prices Are Not Coming Back Down So, what is happening in the cafe industry? Cafes in Japan today introduced here.

Reference: Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Family Income and Expenditure Survey and Consumer Price Index

—The Value Village Editorial Team