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News Bulletin
RECENT RELEASE
Japan's Consumer Price Index in 2008
Japan's "All Items" index of consumer prices stood at 101.7 in 2008 (2005=100), up 1.4% from the previous year.
The "All Items index excluding fresh food" stood at 101.6, up 1.5% from the previous year.
The "All Items index excluding food (excluding alcoholic beverages) and energy" stood at 99.3, unchanged from the previous year.
The main factors behind the changes of the price index in 2008 were as follows:
By basic classification
Among sub-indices for the ten major groups, "Food" rose 2.6% from the previous year, mainly due to a rise in "Cereals" and "Cakes & candies". "Housing" rose 0.2%, mainly due to a rise in "Repairs & maintenance". "Fuel, light & water charges" rose 6.0%, mainly due to a rise in "Other fuel & light (Kerosene)". "Clothes & footwear" rose 0.5%, mainly due to a rise in "Footwear". "Transportation & communication" rose 2.0%, mainly due to a rise in "Private transportation" which includes "Gasoline". "Education" rose 0.7%, mainly due to a rise in "School fees". "Miscellaneous" rose 0.4%, mainly due to a rise in "Personal effects".On the other hand, "Furniture & household utensils" fell 0.3%, mainly due to a fall in "Household durables". "Medical care" fell 0.3%, mainly due to a fall in "Medical supplies & appliances". "Reading & recreation" fell 0.5%, mainly due to a fall in "Recreational durables".
By goods and services classification
The goods index rose 2.4% from the previous year resulting from increases in "Petroleum products" due to the oil price hike, and in "Food products", such as "White bread" and "Chocolate".The services index rose 0.4%, mainly due to a rise in "General services" such as "Package tours to overseas".
