Domestic wholesale prices in October dropped 0.6 percent from the previous month, after remaining unchanged in September, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
The month-on-month decline in domestic wholesale prices was the largest since January 1988, according to the central bank. The domestic wholesale price index, with 1995 as a base of 100, stood at 96.8, down 2.1 percent compared with a year earlier.
The wholesale price index measures inflation on the level of corporate transactions and is considered to foreshadow trends in consumer prices. The latest figures indicate the current deflationary trend has accelerated.
Domestic wholesale prices of iron and steel dropped 0.7 percent from the previous month, while those of electronic appliances also fell 0.4 percent, the BOJ said.
Import prices dropped 5.7 percent from a month before when measured in yen terms. This represents a 7.9 percent plunge compared with the same month last year, the bank said.