Macromill, an online research company, conducted an online survey of 1,000 men and women aged 20 to 69 living in Japan before and after the consumption tax hike to 8%.

The average weekly personal consumption amount was lower than the previous year in many weeks from October 2019, when the tax hike was decided, until the end of the year. However, from January to April this year, it exceeded the previous year in most weeks. In the fourth week of March, just before the tax hike, it rose by 4,600 yen compared to the previous year to 19,800 yen. In previous fixed-point observation surveys, the average personal consumption amount has fluctuated between 15,000 and 17,000 yen, making the figure of 19,800 yen unusual. Personal consumption amount fell sharply in April, dropping to 14,400 yen by the second week.

Consumer attitudes, calculated by scoring the "change in personal consumption in the coming month compared to the past month," have declined since March, just before the tax hike. In the first week of April, it hit 40.9 points, the lowest value since observations began in March 2011.

The "Business Sentiment DI" data, which shows the current state of the economy around us, has been on a downward trend since the beginning of this year. The decline was particularly large in the first week of April, immediately after the tax hike, and when overlaid with the trend of the Nikkei Stock Average, the graph as a whole shows a similar downward trend, although there is a small difference. This shows the impact of the tax hike on consumer sentiment to a significant extent.