Year-on-year, cost declined for: housing (-0.1 percent in March from -0.1 percent in the preceding month); fuel, light and water charges (-8.5 percent from -7.3 percent) and transport and communication (-3.0 percent from -2.1 percent). In contrast, prices rose for: food (+2.6 percent from +2.7 percent), furniture and household utensils (+0.2 percent from +0.6 percent), clothes and footwear (+2.1 percent from +2.5 percent), medical care (+0.8 percent from +0.6 percent), education (+1.7 percent from +1.8 percent), culture and recreation (+1.7 percent from +2.2 percent) and miscellaneous goods and services (+0.8 percent from +0.7 percent).
Core consumer prices fell by 0.3 percent from a year earlier in March, after remaining unchanged in a month earlier and market consensus of a 0.2 percent fall. It is the fastest drop since April 2013. The so-called core-core consumer prices, which excludes food and energy prices rose 0.7 percent year-on-year, slowing from a 0.8 percent rise in February.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1 percent, the same pace as in the previous month.
In Tokyo, consumer prices dropped by 0.1 percent year-on-year in March, after gaining 0.3 percent in February. Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, declined by 0.3 percent from a year earlier, the same pace as in the preceding month.