Japan Verbraucherpreise

Japan's annual inflation rate edged to 3.6% in March 2025 from 3.7% in the prior month, marking the lowest print since last November. Prices of electricity (8.7% vs 9.0% in February) and gas (2.4% vs 3.4%) eased further amid energy subsidies. At the same time, food prices rose the least in three months (7.4% vs 7.6%) even as rice costs jumped by 92.1% yoy due to poor harvests, rising demand from record tourist numbers, and panic buying after a megaquake warning. Inflation also eased slightly for recreation (2.0% vs 2.1%), while education cost fell further (-1.2% vs -1.1%). In contrast, inflation was stable for housing (at 0.8%) and miscellaneous items (at 1.1%) but accelerated for clothing (3.0% vs 2.8%), healthcare (2.0% vs 1.7%), transport (2.7% vs 2.4%), furniture and household items (4.5% vs 4.0%), and communications (1.0% vs 0.1%). However, the core inflation rate rose to 3.2% from 3.0%, in line with market estimates. Monthly, the CPI increased 0.3%, after a 0.1% drop in February.