Consumer sentiment hit a record-high level in December amid the economic upturn, though pessimists still outnumber optimists, according to a Bank of Japan report released Thursday.
The reading of a BOJ index on the levels of individual consumers' confidence in the economy came to minus 2.2 in December, marking the highest level since the BOJ started the survey in March 1996.
The index jumped 12.7 points from minus 14.9 recorded in the previous poll last June, the BOJ said.
The index is computed by subtracting the percentage of people who said they believe the nation's economic conditions have worsened from a year earlier from that of people who said they have improved.
Although the survey is usually based on a quarterly basis, the BOJ skipped the September poll after it found some data in its June survey was improperly collected by a research institute that conducted the poll for the central bank.
The BOJ corrected some of the data in August.