Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan

The diffusion index on living conditions, or the percentage of respondents who said their living conditions improved from a year before minus that of those who said the opposite stood at minus 57.2, the worst level since the September 2009 survey.

The figure worsened from minus 52.0 in the previous March survey, according to the latest survey released Monday.

The share of respondents who said they have become worse off came to 61.0 pct, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.

By contrast, the proportion of people who said they have become better off fell by 0.1 point to 3.8 pct.

Among respondents becoming worse off, the proportion of those who cited rising prices as a reason behind the deterioration reached 93.7 pct.

The survey also showed that the share of respondents who think that economic conditions worsened from a year before stood at 70.5 pct.

Asked how much prices would increase in a year, respondents answered 12.8 pct on average, up from 12.2 pct in the previous survey and hitting the highest level since comparable data became available in September 2006.

The share of respondents who said prices rose in the country from a year before came to 96.1 pct, almost unchanged from the previous survey.

The latest survey was conducted between May 1 and June 3, covering people aged 20 or over across the country.

The June survey was the first since the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed additional tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles as well as some reciprocal tariffs.

"We cannot say anything for sure" about the potential impact from the tariffs, a BOJ official said.