Foresight

Increase in consumer price index for 2023

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has published its latest report on the average consumer price index.

The latest report on the consumer price index (inflation measure) for the year 2023 has been published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

On average, the consumer price index in Japan rose by 2.8% year-on-year (excluding unprocessed fresh food).

This was 0.2 percentage points less than the previous year's increase of 3.0% - the highest level in 41 years, since 1981.

The index for food products (excluding unprocessed fresh foods) rose by 7.5% on the previous year. Among products, the index for eggs rose by 24.5%, for ice cream by 11.6% and for minced steaks in restaurants by 9.2%.

Due to the recovery in tourist demand, prices for accommodation, including hotels, rose by 25.5%.

However, prices for electricity and city gas bills fell by more than 10% respectively.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said: “In the catering sector, measures have been taken to increase prices due to rising labor costs. We would like to confirm whether the current depreciation of the yen will affect the prices of food and other products.”