The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
January 29, 2018JAPAN CPI INFLATION, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2017 
Japanese consumer price inflation in Japan accelerated again in December, rising to 1.1 per cent for all items (compared with the index in December of 2016). Excluding the impacts of a rise in value-added sales tax rates, this is the fastest inflation in Japan since early 2014. After excluding volatile prices of fresh food and enery, Japan's underlying inflation is moderate at 0.4 per cent from December 2016 to December 2017, but this measure of inflation is also rising.
Comparing the annual average of inflation over all months of 2017, Japanese prices were up 0.5 per cent last year. This is a rebound after deflation in 2016. Much of Japan's inflation is attributable to higher energy prices (and somewhat higher food prices). Excluding these two volatile items, Japanese prices averaged just 0.1 per cent higher in 2017 than in 2016.
As world oil prices continue to rebound, Japanese inflation is being pushed up by higher energy prices, which were up 7.6 per cent in December (vs. Dec16) and up 5.3 per cent on an annual average basis. Japan's food prices fell on a year-over-year basis in October and November based on unusually high prices in the previous year. Food inflation returned to a more ordinary pace of 1.8 per cent year-over-year in December while food price reported a more modest annual average growth of 0.7 per cent over all of 2017.
Japanese inflation has been persistently below inflation reported in Canada and Nova Scotia for much of the last two years. but the December rebound in year-over-year inflation brings it closer to the Canadian average. Annual average inflation in Japan was higher in 2017 after 2016's deflation, but there is still a gap between price growth in Canada and price growth in Japan.
Japan Statistics Bureau - Consumer Price Index
<--- Return to Archive
