The average of household spending was down 1.9 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday - coming in at 297,487 yen.
That beat forecasts for a decline of 2.6 percent following the 0.1 percent increase in July.
The average of monthly income per household stood at 574,334 yen, up 2.0 percent on year.
On a monthly basis, household spending rose 2.0 percent - again exceeding expectations for a gain of 0.5 percent after slumping 1.7 percent in the previous month.