Lifestyle
Japan — Living: Cost of Living
Official 2025 data put average monthly consumption spending of a one-person household in Japan at JPY 173,042, with food at JPY 44,659 and housing at JPY 21,667; these are averages across all one-person households including owners.
VerifiedGovernment / official sourceStatistics Bureau of Japan — Family Income and Expenditure Survey, one-person households 2025Last reviewed: 2026-10-23
Key facts
- Average monthly consumption expenditure of one-person households in 2025 was JPY 173,042, up 2.1% nominal and down 1.5% in real terms.
- Food averaged JPY 44,659 a month (25.8% of spending).
- Housing averaged JPY 21,667 a month (12.5%), of which rent and land rent averaged JPY 17,606 (10.2%).
- The housing averages include homeowners: in the survey 59% of one-person households own their home and only 35.1% pay rent, so renters pay considerably more than the average.
- The survey sample is 646 one-person households with an average age of 58.6, so it does not represent a young expatriate renter in a big city.
Common mistakes
- Treating the survey rent average as typical rent: most surveyed households own their home.