The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo in January slipped 0.3 percent from a year earlier for a record 52nd consecutive month of decline.

The January consumer price index for Tokyo's 23 wards, excluding volatile prices of perishable foods, came to 96.9 against the base of 100 for 2000, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said Friday in a preliminary report.

The decline in the CPI for Tokyo, regarded as the leading indicator of prices nationwide, came after milder falls of 0.2 percent in November and 0.1 percent in December.

The nationwide CPI for 2003, excluding perishables, came to 98.0 with a 0.3 percent year-on-year decline, marking the fourth straight annual contraction amid the prolonged deflationary trend.

The margin of decline was smaller than in 2002, when the index excluding perishables dipped 0.9 percent to post the steepest fall since comparable data became available in 1971.

This is considered by many as a sign of an easing of deflationary pressures that have long crimped the economy.

But a ministry spokesman said it is unclear whether the shrinkage will continue, noting that it resulted largely from temporary factors such as increase in medical bills and tobacco taxes.

The ministry said the 2003 nationwide CPI fell 3.0 percent for furniture and household items, 1.9 percent for clothing and footwear, 1.5 percent for education and entertainment costs, 0.5 percent for utilities and 0.2 percent for foods.

By item, the notable feature was sharp price falls in durable consumer goods. Laptop personal computers topped the list with a decline of 29.1 percent; desktop computers were second with a 26.1 percent fall. Refrigerators fell 18.1 percent, followed by video cameras with a decline of 17.2 percent.

Medical services costs meanwhile increased 3.4 percent, reflecting a mandatory increase in the proportion of salaried workers' medical payments to 30 percent of the total treatment costs.