Some 22.4 percent of computers procured by the government in fiscal 1997 were foreign-made, marking a slight increase from 19.6 percent the previous year, a government report said Friday.

According to a survey of about 114 government offices and affiliated institutions, orders for hardware, maintenance and other services worth 62.82 billion yen were placed with foreign companies, accounting for 16.5 percent of 379.74 billion yen spent.

The share of orders placed with foreign suppliers fell to 19.6 percent in fiscal 1996, down from a high of 29.3 percent in fiscal 1994. Despite government efforts to make procurement fair and transparent, fluctuations occur in demand for various types of computers, a government official said.

The United States has expressed concern over declining purchases by the Japanese government of foreign products.