Duty-free sales at department stores more than tripled year on year to a record ?71.87 billion ($450.7 million) in May, driven by a significant increase in Chinese tourists visiting Japan during China¡¯s Labor Day holiday and the yen¡¯s weakness.

The Japan Department Stores Association announced Monday that duty-free sales by visiting foreign nationals marked a record high for the third consecutive month last month.

Popular items included cosmetics, luxury brands, food products, women¡¯s and men¡¯s clothing, and accessories.

About 566,000 people made duty-free purchases, more than double the figure from a year earlier.

Tourists from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia were also among the most significant duty-free shoppers at department stores in May.

Duty-free sales in May surpassed the previous record high of ?59.9 billion set in April.

Total sales of department stores increased year on year for the 27th straight month in May, thanks to high-priced items such as foreign luxury brand bags and jewelry. The rise in temperatures in May also boosted sales of summer clothing, sunglasses, fans and other seasonal accessories.

Foreign tourists have been flocking to Japan in droves, thanks in part to the weakness of the yen, helping to boost the economy.

In May, the number of foreign visitors to Japan topped 3 million visitors for the third straight month and was 60.1% higher than the same month a year earlier.

In the January-March quarter, visitors from China spent ?352.6 billion, comprising 20.1% of total tourist spending, followed by ?251.2 billion (14.4%) by those from Taiwan and ?237.9 billion (13.6%) by those from South Korea.

The government has been trying to increase spending per tourist, with the goal of achieving ?200,000 on average by 2025, up from ?159,000 in 2019. The average travel expenditure per foreign visitor to Japan in the quarter through March is estimated at ?209,000, with Australian visitors ranking at the top, spending ?373,000.

While Australians spent the most on accommodation and activities, Chinese visitors spent the most on shopping, according to the tourism agency.