2021.02.1903:42:00UTC+00Japan Consumer Prices Fall At Slower Pace In January

Japan's consumer prices dropped at a slower pace in January reflecting the end of the 'Go To' travel scheme of the government, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday.

Consumer prices were down 0.6 percent, but slower than the 1.2 percent drop in December and -0.9 percent in November.

Core consumer prices that exclude fresh food, also fell at a slower pace of 0.6 percent annually, following a 1 percent decrease a month ago. Economists had forecast an annual drop of 0.7 percent.

Excluding fresh food and energy, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent annually, reversing a 0.4 percent drop in December.

On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices grew 0.6 percent and core prices gained 0.5 percent.

Tom Learmouth, an economist at Capital Economics, said headline inflation recovered substantially in January due to the removal of the artificial drag from the Go To Travel campaign, and it is likely to rebound further over the coming months.