Domestic wholesale prices in Japan in April fell 0.7 percent for the seventh straight month of decline from year-earlier levels and dropped from the previous month by 0.1 percent -- the second consecutive decline, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
The margin of decline from a year before is the biggest since the 0.8 percent drop in October 1999, the central bank said.
In March, wholesale prices fell 0.5 percent from a year before and 0.1 percent from February.
The domestic wholesale price index came to 95.5 for April against a base of 100 for 1995, the BOJ said.
While prices of electric power, gas and water rose 0.6 percent from the previous month, declines in other sectors were seen, with prices of electrical machinery falling 0.4 percent and those of iron and steel dropping 0.5 percent. Transportation equipment prices slipped 0.3 percent, while prices of coal and petroleum products fell 0.5 percent.
Export prices, measured in yen terms, rose 6.6 percent from a year before and 0.6 percent from the previous month due to a weaker yen.
Import prices, also measured in yen terms, climbed 12.4 percent from a year earlier and 1.2 percent from the previous month, the central bank said.