Domestic wholesale prices rose 0.1 percent in 2000 for the first hike in three years, mainly due to higher crude oil prices, the Bank of Japan said Friday.

The central bank said the domestic wholesale price index came to 96.1 for the year against a base of 100 for 1995.

The index registered falls of 1.5 percent in both 1998 and 1999.

Wholesale prices have not risen since the 0.6 percent increase in 1997, which came after the consumption tax was increased to 5 percent from 3 percent.

Wholesale prices in 2000 declined in agriculture, mining products and forestry and fisheries but increased for oil and coal, chemicals, paper-pulp and nonferrous metals, the BOJ said.

Export wholesale prices for the reporting year declined 4.5 percent in yen terms as prices fell particularly in electronic appliances and transportation machinery. The index for that category registered 92.8.

Export wholesale prices, however, rose 0.9 percent in terms of contract currencies, with the index at 87. Price increases were seen in chemical and textile products, the central bank said.

The year's import wholesale prices in yen terms rose 4.7 percent to an index reading of 106.5.

Overall wholesale prices for the year fell 0.1 percent with the index at 96.6, the central bank said.