Japan to See 2nd Wave of Food Price Hikes in Feb.

Tokyo, Jan. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese households are set to see a second wave of price hikes in February, when prices are scheduled to rise for 4,283 food items, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Thursday.

Over the first four months of 2023, prices will increase for 7,390 items, up some 60 pct from a year earlier, according to the credit research company's survey conducted at the end of 2022, which covered 105 major food makers.

Price hikes for processed food items, such as frozen foods and fish paste products, accounted for 50 pct of the total. The share stood at 20 pct each for alcoholic and other beverages and for seasoning products.

So-called stealth price hikes, in which product contents are reduced while their prices are unchanged, will be carried out for many snacks.

After the first wave in October last year, when prices of 6,699 food items rose, the monthly number of food items subject to price increases stood below 1,000 for three months through this month.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]