Japan: Inflation comes in at over one-year high in May
Core consumer prices rose 0.20% over the previous month in May, contrasting the 0.49% fall recorded in April.
Core consumer prices—which exclude fresh food—increased 0.1% in annual terms in May, contrasting April’s 0.1% year-on-year drop in prices. May’s figure was the highest inflation rate since March 2020 and bucked the previous trend of nine consecutive months of falling prices. Nevertheless, the annual average variation of core consumer prices was unchanged at 0.4% in May, where it has remained for the past four months. Lastly, consumer prices for all items fell 0.1% on an annual basis in May, softening somewhat from April’s 0.4% decrease.