FY2019 Summary of inquiries about cross-border consumer disputes received by Cross-border Consumer center Japan (CCJ)

This summary reflects inquiries about cross-border consumer disputes received by Cross-border Consumer center Japan (CCJ) in the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC). Details of the information will be described on the "Annual Report on Consumer Affairs 2020", which will be released on NCAC's website in October 2020.

Trends and characteristics in FY2019

• CCJ received 6,018 inquiries about cross-border consumer disputes in FY2019. The annual number exceeded 6,000 as in FY2018.
• The breakdown of inquiries by generation showed the percentage of inquiries from consumers aged 60 or older slightly decreased and those from consumers in their 20s to 30s slightly increased compared to FY2018.
• Almost all of the inquiries (97.9%) were about trouble over "online shopping" as in FY2018. "Credit card payment" accounted for about 75% of all the payment methods.
• The breakdown of inquiries by type of trouble showed that inquiries related to "trouble over cancellation" accounted for 56.8% of the total, exceeding 50.2% in FY2018. The second most common type was "trouble over fraud or counterfeit products" (12.3%).
• The breakdown of inquiries by product/service category showed that inquiries about software accounted for 15.8% of the total, representing a decrease from 26.0% in FY2018. Inquiries about "services" increased to 36.7% from 24.4% in FY2018.
• The most common home country of businesses related to the inquiries was the US (21.5%) as in FY2018, followed by Switzerland (12.7%), China (10.1%) and the UK (6.5%). The four countries accounted for more than half (50.8%) of the total.