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VI. Income and Expenditures by Region
1. Living Expenditures
(i) Living Expenditures by Prefecture
An analysis of average monthly household living expenditures by prefecture in all households shows that Kanagawa had the highest living expenditures at 346,760 yen followed by Ibaraki, Tokyo, Tochigi, Toyama and Mie. Prefectures that had households with higher living expenditures were concentrated in the Kanto region. On the other hand, Okinawa had the lowest living expenditures per household at 234,707 yen which was followed by Aomori, Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Oita and Akita. Prefectures that had households with lower living expenditures were mainly found in the Kyushu region. (Figures VI-1 and VI-2)
Figure VI-1: Average Monthly Living Expenditures by Prefecture (All Households)
Figure VI-2: Average Monthly Living Expenditures by Prefecture (All Households)
(ii) Changes in Regional Differentials in Living Expenditures among Prefectures
The regional differentials in household living expenditures by prefecture in all households was analyzed using the standard deviation based on the index where the national average of household living expenditures was 100. After narrowing from 12.5 in 1959 to 6.9 in 1979 and expanding thereafter, the standard deviation contracted again to 7.3 in 2004. (Table VI-1)
Table VI-1: Change in Standard Deviation of Average Monthly Living Expenditures (All Households)
(iii) Regional Differentials in Living Expenditures among Prefectures by Item
The regional differentials in household living expenditures among prefectures by item in all households was analyzed using the standard deviation based on the index where the national average was 100. Education had the largest standard deviation at 23.7 (note: the standard deviation of education-related expenditures which accounted for the total of expenditures for education and remittance to children studying away from home was 14.1) followed by housing at 19.6 and reading & recreation at 13.4 with food showing the smallest standard deviation at 7.2.
As compared to the 1999 survey, the standard deviation contracted in all items excluding fuel, light & water charges and medical care. (Table VI-2)
Table VI-2: Standard Deviation of Average Monthly Living Expenditures by Item (All Households)
(iv) Consumption Characteristics by Items
a. Fish & Shellfish and Meat
A comparison of the ratios of living expenditures on fish & shellfish and those on meat to the total expenditures on these two items (the national average was 54.1% for fish & shellfish and 45.9% for meat) reveals that Iwate had the highest ratio of expenditures on fish & shellfish at 63.7% followed by Aomori, Niigata, Akita, Gunma and Toyama. Prefectures that had higher ratio of expenditures on fish & shellfish were mainly found in the Tohoku region. On the other hand, Okinawa had the highest ratio of expenditures on meat at 54.3% followed by Nara, Miyazaki, Shiga, Hyogo and Kagoshima. Prefectures that showed higher ratio of expenditures on meat were mainly found in the Kinki and Kyushu regions. (Figure VI-3)
Figure VI-3: Ratio of Household Living Expenditures on Fish & Shellfish by Prefecture (All Households)
b. Eating Out and Cooked Foods
An analysis of the ratios of expenditures on eating out and those on cooked foods to the total expenditures on these two items (the national average was 60.2% for eating out and 39.8% for cooked foods) indicates that expenditures on eating out exceeded those on cooked foods in all prefectures. The ratio of expenditures on eating out was highest in Gifu at 64.4% which was followed by Aichi, Tokyo, Hokkaido, Nagano and Saitama. On the other hand, the ratio of expenditures on cooked foods was highest in Fukui at 47.5% followed by Shimane, Yamagata, Shiga, Shizuoka and Wakayama. (Figure VI-4)
Figure VI-4: Ratio of Household Living Expenditures on Eating Out by Prefecture (All Households)
c. Public Transportation and Private Transportation
An examination of the ratios of public transportation expenditures including train tickets, bus & taxi fares and private transportation expenditures including the purchases of an automobile, gasoline and automobile insurance to the total expenditures on these two items (the national average was 23.4% for public transportation and 76.6% for private transportation) reveals that private transportation expenditures exceeded public transportation expenditures in all prefectures. The ratio of public transportation expenditures was highest in Tokyo at 45.6% which was followed by Kanagawa, Nara, Osaka, Saitama and Hyogo. Prefectures that had households with higher public transportation expenditures were found in Tokyo, Osaka and other neighboring prefectures. On the other hand, the ratio of private transportation expenditures was highest in Gunma at 89.4% followed by Yamagata, Kagawa, Niigata, Tokushima and Nagano. (Figure VI-5)
Figure VI-5: Ratio of Household Living Expenditures on Transportation by Prefecture (All Households)
