Some 78.1 percent of Fukushima residents bought local food goods in fiscal 2014 rather than produce harvested in other prefectures, up about 10 percentage points from the year before, a survey conducted by the prefectural consumers' group association shows.

The survey indicates that safety concerns among residents about food harvested in the prefecture are easing despite persistent rumors since the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The survey also showed that more than 80 percent of those surveyed said they had purchased processed food made from Fukushima ingredients.