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Japan records first consumer price drop in three years

Consumer prices in Japan fell for the first time in more than three years last month, official data shows, dragged down by the coronavirus pandemic and collapsing oil prices.

Core prices in April, excluding volatile fresh food, slipped 0.2%t from a year earlier, reversing a rise of 0.4 % in March, according to the internal affairs ministry.

It was the first drop in 40 months, the ministry said, and larger than a 0.1% drop predicted by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Month-on-month, prices fell 0.5 % following a drop of 0.1% in March.

Government data on Monday showed Japan had dived into its first recession since 2015 in the first quarter of the year and some economists warned the worst was yet to come.

The Guardian