Japan's core consumer prices dropped 1.0% in December from a year earlier, the steepest fall in over 10 years, due largely to lower energy prices and the government's travel subsidy campaign, amid the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Friday.
Nationwide core consumer prices, excluding volatile fresh food items, logged the largest drop since a 1.1% fall in September 2010 and declined for the fifth straight month, according the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The core consumer price index fell 0.9% in November.
In 2020, the core CPI dipped 0.2% on average, marking the first decrease in four years and remaining far below the Bank of Japan's 2% inflation target.