Residential and commercial properties near the Shibuya district of Tokyo on May 4, 2023.<\/p>\n
Richard A. Brooks | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Japan’s core inflation rate cooled to 3.1% in July, coming down from 3.3% the month before as rice inflation continued to ease.<\/p>\n
The figure \u2014 which strips out costs for fresh food \u2014 was higher than the 3% expected by economists polled by Reuters.<\/p>\n
Headline inflation in the country also dropped to 3.1%, coming down from 3.3% in June and marking its lowest since November 2024.<\/p>\n
The so-called “core-core” inflation rate, which strips out prices of both fresh food and energy and is closely monitored by the BOJ, held steady at 3.4%.<\/p>\n
Rice inflation eased to 90.7% in July, down from 100.2% in June, and after two months during which prices had more than doubled.<\/p>\n
Rice prices have shown signs of easing after a rice shortage and skyrocketing rice prices dominated headlines in the country earlier this year, with data from Japan’s agricultural ministry<\/a> showing that the average bag of five-kilogram rice in supermarkets was being sold for 3,737 Japanese yen ($25.34) for the week of Aug. 4.<\/p>\n At its highest, rice was retailing at an average of 4,285 yen per five-kilogram bag, while premium rice brands reached 4,469 yen.<\/p>\n Japan’s central bank had upgraded its inflation forecasts in its economic outlook report released on July 31<\/a>, saying that core inflation would come in at 2.7% for its 2025 fiscal year \u2014 ending March 2026 \u2014 up from its previous forecast of 2.2%.<\/p>\n “Core-core” inflation expectations were raised to 2.8% from 2.3%.<\/p>\n The inflation figure comes after Japan’s economy grew a better-than-expected 0.3%<\/a> in the second quarter from the previous three months, mainly supported by net exports.<\/p>\n