The key gauge of Tokyo consumer prices shed 0.1 percent in October from the month before, including a drop in beef prices stemming from the nation's first case of mad cow disease, the government said Friday.

Following the finding last month of Japan's first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, as mad cow disease is formally known, prices of sirloin and beef shoulder dipped 0.7 percent, a government official said in announcing preliminary results as of mid-October.

By comparison, pork loin prices were up 1.7 percent and shoulder prices were up 2.1 percent, said the official of the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.

Overall, the key consumer price index for Tokyo's 23 wards -- the leading index of nationwide price movement -- was 98.7 against the 2000 base of 100, down 1 percent from a year earlier for the 25th successive monthly decline, the ministry said.

But the index, which excludes volatile prices of perishable foods, fell by a smaller year-on-year margin than September's 1.2 percent dip, due mainly to a climb in electricity prices amid the weak yen and high crude oil prices, the official said.

Assessing the latest price performance, the Cabinet Office released a statement saying there is "no change in the downward trend," a repeated suggestion that the economy remains under deflationary pressure.

Electricity charges rose 1.6 percent from a year earlier in a turnaround from their 2.4 percent drop in September, while fees in the category of learning and leisure, including overseas tours, sank 2.1 percent after September's 2.7 percent drop.

Including prices of perishable foods, the index stood at 98.7, down 1.1 percent year-on-year for the 26th consecutive monthly fall and a 0.1 percent drop from the month before.

The ministry also reported that the key index for the entire nation dipped 0.8 percent in September from a year earlier to 99.2, down for the 24th straight month.

It was flat compared with August, thanks to a seasonally induced 6.8 percent gain in clothing prices.

The index including perishables also came to 99.2, down 0.8 percent for the 25th consecutive month of year-to-year declines and down 0.2 percent from the month before.

Methodology review

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa urged the government Friday to review the methods it uses to compile consumer price index data to better reflect changing consumer attitudes.

He said increased purchases via mail order and other changing trends are not reflected very well in the current CPI data.

"I said at informal talks after the Cabinet meeting that factors surrounding the consumer price index have changed substantially and that I want them reviewed," Shiokawa told a regular news conference.

Public management chief Toranosuke Katayama said his ministry is reviewing the statistics to obtain more accurate views on consumption, according to Shiokawa.