The scorching heat is putting an extra burden on household budgets as the drought stunts the growth of leafy vegetables, causing wholesale prices to soar 20 to 50 percent compared with recent years.
The price spike, based on figures between July 1 and Wednesday, has been especially noticeable for lettuce, whose average wholesale price has rocketed 205 percent compared with the average price it hovered at for the past five years, according to the agriculture ministry. The July 1-10 wholesale price of cabbage was 37 percent higher and that of spinach 24 percent above comparable averages during the past five years.
The wholesale price for lettuce Tuesday stood at ¥217 per kilogram, while cabbage was ¥97 and spinach ¥646, the ministry said.