Japan's Consumer Sentiment Climbs for Second Consecutive Quarter

Tokyo, Jan. 19 (Jiji Press)--A Bank of Japan quarterly survey for December 2025 showed Monday that consumer sentiment in the country rose for two quarters in a row while views on living conditions deteriorated for the first time in two quarters. The results apparently suggest that an increasing number of people think the overall economy is getting better but that higher prices of goods and services are weighing on livelihood. The diffusion index for consumers' views of economic conditions came to minus 50.4 in the December survey, better than minus 58.7 in the previous September 2025 survey. The DI represents the percentage of respondents who believe economic conditions improved from a year before minus that of those feeling the opposite. The DI for economic outlooks a year ahead stood at minus 18.3, reflecting rosier corporate earnings and increases in incomes thanks to wage hikes. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]