Japan Inflation Rate

The annual inflation rate in Japan was at 2.5% in May 2022, unchanged from April's 7-1/2-year high figure and in line with market consensus. This was also the 9th straight month of rises in consumer prices, with food inflation hitting its highest in over 7 years (4.1% vs 4% in April). Additional upward pressures also came from cost of fuel, light and water charges (14.4% vs 15.7%), clothes (0.9% vs 0.8%), housing (0.5% vs 0.4%), furniture (3.6% vs 2.3%), education (0.8% vs 0.9%), culture & recreation (1.7% vs 1.6%), and miscellaneous (1.1% vs 1.2%). At the same time, cost fell further for both transport (-0.8% vs -0.2%) and medical care (-0.8% vs -0.7%). Core consumer prices was at 2.1% yoy in May, the same pace as in April which was the most since March 2015, matching forecasts, while was above the BoJ’s 2% target for the second straight month. On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.2% in May, the least since January, after a 0.4% gain in the prior three months.