The average of household spending was down 6.3 percent on year in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 289,467 yen.
That missed expectations for a decline of 4.1 percent following the 2.5 percent drop in December.
On a monthly basis, household spending slipped 2.1 percent - again shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent after sinking 0.9 percent in the previous month.
The average of monthly income per household stood at 497,383 yen, down 2.1 percent on year.