Japan: Inflation decelerates in January from December
Latest reading: Consumer prices increased 1.5% in annual terms in January, following a 2.1% increase in the previous month. January’s reading was the weakest since March 2022.
Relative to the prior month’s figures, there were reduced price pressures for transportation (+0.6% in annual terms vs +1.9% in December), food (+3.9% vs +5.1% in December) and energy (-5.2% vs -3.1% in December). Finally, the variation in housing prices was the same as in the prior month (+1.0% in January and December).
Meanwhile, core consumer prices increased 2.0% in annual terms in January, following a 2.4% rise in the previous month.
Finally, consumer prices declined 0.09% in January in month-on-month terms, following a 0.16% decline in the previous month.
Panelist insight: Goldman Sachs’ Tomohiro Ota said:
“Energy prices decelerated sharply, partly due to the impact of the gasoline price control measures in December being reflected in the January CPI. As a result, the core CPI decelerated by -0.4 pp from December to +2.0% yoy, in line with the market forecast.”