Consumer prices in Japan dropped by a record 0.7 percent in 2000 for the second successive yearly decline, the government said Friday.
The consumer price index stood at 101.5, the Public Management, Home Affairs and Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said in a preliminary report.
This was the third drop since 1971, the earliest year for which comparable data are available. A consumer price decline occurred for the first time in 1995, when the index retreated 0.1 percent.
The CPI, measured against the 1995 base of 100, registered increases of 0.1 percent in 1996, 1.8 percent in 1997 and 0.6 percent in 1998, but dipped 0.3 percent in 1999.
The recent fall is being attributed to a decline in the prices of fresh vegetables, which stemmed from more unseasonal weather than in 1999. The pricing of durable goods and textiles also played a role.
Overall food prices decelerated 1.9 percent; furniture and household items weakened 3 percent, and clothing and shoes slumped 1.1 percent.
Excluding volatile prices of perishables, the nationwide CPI saw a 0.4 percent decline in 2000, the first downturn on record in this category, after staying unchanged in 1999 from the preceding year.
For the month of December, consumer prices nationwide dropped 0.2 percent year-on-year to an index reading of 101.5, with telecommunications charges down 5.2 percent, restaurant prices 1.4 percent lower and home-use durable goods down 7.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the Public Management Ministry also released preliminary CPI data for Tokyo's 23 wards for January, an early gauge of nationwide price trends.
It said consumer prices in Tokyo moved down 0.4 percent in the latest reporting month from a year earlier for the 17th consecutive month of decline, with the index coming in at 100.5.
The ministry attributed the setback to a 2 percent decrease in rents, a 1.8 percent fall in restaurant prices and a 6 percent drop in telecommunications charges.
The range of decline contracted from 0.6 percent in December.