Japan's key consumer price index fell one per cent in December from a year earlier, marking the sharpest decline in more than 10 years, due to a travel subsidy program and falling energy prices, a government report shows.
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According to the report published on Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the reading represented the fifth straight month of decline and was far off the country's two per cent inflation target set by the Bank of Japan more than seven years ago.
Accommodation fees plummeted 33.5 per cent from a year earlier after the government kicked off the travel promotion campaign in July to reinvigorate local economies and the tourism industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. But it was suspended following a resurgence of infections.
The core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, stood at 101.1 against a base of 100 for 2015.
In 2020, consumer prices fell 0.2 per cent on average, marking the first decline in four years.
Australian Associated Press
