94 Pct in Japan Aware of Price Increases

Tokyo, Jan. 11 (Jiji Press)--About 94 pct of people in Japan think that prices have increased from a year before, a survey by the Bank of Japan showed Wednesday.

The central bank's December survey showed 94.3 pct of respondents said prices had increased from a year before, up from 91.8 pct in the previous September survey and the second highest on record, following 94.6 pct in the September 2008 survey during the global financial crisis.

The results indicate that consumers are increasingly feeling burdens from price increases for food and other daily necessities. The quarterly survey covers individuals aged 20 and over nationwide. The latest survey was carried out from Nov. 4 to Dec. 1, with responses given by 2,108 people.

In the latest survey, the share of respondents who said prices had increased significantly rose to 52.7 pct from 46.4 pct in the previous survey. The share of respondents who said prices had gone up slightly fell to 41.6 pct from 45.4 pct.

The survey found that 53.0 pct of respondents saw their household circumstances become worse, up from 50.7 pct. Asked why, with multiple answers allowed, a record 88.4 pct cited price increases, up from 84.5 pct.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]