Japan’s consumer prices rose 3.1 percent in February from a year earlier, slowing from the four-decade highs seen in previous months, government data showed Friday.
The figure, which excludes volatile fresh food, met market expectations and comes after the government introduced relief measures for soaring energy bills.
It is the first deceleration in over a year, marking a fall from January, when prices jumped 4.2 percent on-year — the highest level since September 1981, fuelled in part by higher energy bills.
The drop is also due in part to the comparison with data from February 2022, when prices began to rise in Japan following decades of sluggish inflation or deflation.—AFP
