Producer prices rose 2.4% in 2017

January 16, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's producer price index in 2017 rose 2.4 percent from the previous year, up for the first time in three years, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.

The index stood at 98.8 against 100 for the base year of 2015, the BOJ said in a preliminary report.

The growth was the sharpest since 2008, excluding the 3.1 percent rise in 2014 that reflected the consumption tax rate hike to 8 percent from 5 percent in April that year.

The rise in 2017 chiefly stemmed from higher prices of resources, including crude oil and nonferrous metal, and the yen's weakening.

By category, prices of petroleum and coal products, including gasoline, went up 18.2 percent on the back of the rise in crude oil prices. Prices of chemical products posted 2.4 percent growth.

Prices of nonferrous metals, such as aluminum and copper, and those of steel went up 12.6 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively, supported by rising global demand.

In December alone, the producer price index rose 3.1 percent from a year before to 100.1, up for 12 months in a row, the BOJ said.

The pace of growth slowed from November's 3.6 percent. But a BOJ official said that producer prices are moving on a firm note against the backdrop of higher crude oil prices as well as rising demand reflecting the global economic growth. Jiji Press