Japan Fears Deflation on Record Drop in Prices
By wchung | 18 Mar, 2026

Shoppers are seen in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. Prices in Japan tumbled at a record pace in August, intensifying concerns that deflation could undermine the country's fragile economic recovery. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

The government says prices in Japan tumbled at a record pace in August amid growing worries about jobs and wages.

The country’s core consumer price index fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier. The figure marks the steepest decline since officials began compiling comparable data in 1971.

Japan’s core CPI has now dropped for six straight months, indicating that deflation is strengthening its grip on the world’s second largest economy.

The core CPI for Tokyo retreated 2.1 percent in September. The results suggest that prices nationwide are headed further downward. Prices in the nation’s capital are considered a leading barometer of price trends across Japan.

9/28/2009 7:51 PM TOKYO (AP)