According to the family finances survey launched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in January, the sum of money spent on consumption by households with two or extra individuals decreased by 0.3% from the identical month of the earlier 12 months in actual phrases, excluding value fluctuations. Consumption per family was 301,646 yen, the third consecutive month of decline. In phrases of the breakdown, expenditure on ▽ “housing” decreased by 12.1%, and expenditure on ▽ “food” decreased by 0.5%.