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News Bulletin
RECENT RELEASE
2013 Consumer Price Index Increased
[Introduction]
The SBJ released the 2013 calendar year Consumer Price Index (CPI) on January 31, 2014.
The CPI is an index to measure the average price movements of a fixed set of various goods and services purchased by many households throughout the country. The data are utilized for various policies, measures, the revision of pensions, etc.
At the end of every month, the SBJ also releases preliminary figures of the monthly CPI for Ku-area (the 23 ward area) of Tokyo for the current month. In the next month, the final monthly figures for the whole country are released.
[Summary]
Japan's "all items" index of consumer prices stood at 100.0 in 2013 (2010=100), an increase of 0.4% over the previous year for the first increase in five years since 2008.
The "all items, less fresh food" index stood at 100.1, an increase of 0.4% for the first increase in five years since 2008.
The "all items, less food (less alcoholic beverages) and energy" index stood at 98.3, a decrease of 0.2%.
Basic classification
Five of the ten major groups of the CPI increased over the last year. On the other hand, five decreased (see Table 1).
Goods and services classification
The "goods" index rose 0.6% from the previous year, mainly due to rises in "electricity, manufactured & piped gas & water charges" and "gasoline".
The "services" index rose 0.1%, mainly due to a rise in "public services" which contains "automotive insurance premium (option)" (see Table 1).
Main factors behind the change of the price (index) in 2013
- "Energy" such as "electricity" rose mainly due to rising import prices of crude oil and LNG, and increases of power rates by major electric power companies.
- "Food, less fresh food" fell when looking at the whole year 2013, though the monthly value become positive in September, mainly due to a rise in "meats" such as beef, and a rise in "dairy products & eggs" such as "hen eggs".
- "Durable goods" continued to fall when looking at the whole year 2013 mainly due to falls in "TV sets" and "room air conditioners", though the monthly value become positive in November mainly due to a rise in personal computers.
Table 1: Consumer Price Index: Change from the previous year in 2013
Figure 1-1 Consumer Price Index
Figure 1-2 Consumer Price Index: Change from the previous year 
(Source) Consumer Price Index(SBJ)
The 2013 yearly average results for Japan were released on January 31, 2014, and the Annual Report will be published in March. For further details, see the website below.
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/cpi/index.htm (URL)
