The average price of land in Japan rose for the second straight year in 2022, with the rate of growth picking up, as demand for both residential and commercial use recovered following a fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Wednesday.

Land prices in all categories nationwide rose 1.6% from a year earlier as of Jan. 1, 2023, compared with a 0.6% increase in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Prices for residential-use land in regional areas, excluding in the big cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, marked the first rise in 28 years, increasing 0.4% from a year earlier.