What is Japan's core inflation rate?
Data through September 2026Japan's core consumer prices were 2.2% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, on the Consumer Price Index excluding fresh food published by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the measure the Bank of Japan calls core CPI.
That compares with 1.7% in August 2026. Core-core CPI (less fresh food and energy as well) was 2.4% and headline CPI (all items) was 2.1%.
Data through September 2026. Retrieved from the source on 2026-10-23. Calculated from published values; see the calculation below.
Show calculation
Definition
Core CPI in Japan means the Consumer Price Index for all items less fresh food. It is the measure the Bank of Japan refers to in its policy statements, because fresh food prices move with the weather rather than with demand. A second measure, core-core CPI, also removes energy, whose prices follow oil and the government's subsidies.
Both are compiled by the Statistics Bureau of Japan from the same monthly survey as the headline index, on a 2025 = 100 base, and published in the second half of the following month. The rate quoted is the change from the same month a year earlier.
Index levels are published to one decimal place. Rates on this page are calculated from those levels, so a rate can differ from the Bureau's published rate by up to 0.1 percentage points; the method is stated under Show calculation.
Core CPI (Less Fresh Food), Year over Year
Latest Readings
| Period | Index (2025=100) | YoY (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 102.3 | 2.2 |
| Aug 2026 | 102.0 | 1.7 |
| Jul 2026 | 102.1 | 1.8 |
| Jun 2026 | 101.7 | 1.5 |
| May 2026 | 101.6 | 1.5 |
| Apr 2026 | 101.1 | 1.4 |
| Mar 2026 | 100.7 | 1.7 |
| Feb 2026 | 100.2 | 1.5 |
| Jan 2026 | 100.7 | 1.9 |
| Dec 2025 | 100.9 | 2.3 |
| Nov 2025 | 101.1 | 3.0 |
| Oct 2025 | 100.7 | 3.0 |
| Sep 2025 | 100.1 | 2.9 |
How to Cite
Plover Analytics, “Japan core inflation rate”, https://ploveranalytics.com/japan-core-inflation-rate.html, retrieved 2026-10-28. Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan.
The full series, every earlier release and a CSV with its sources in the header are on the data page. Values can be read as they stood on any earlier date through the API; guidance for quoting is in llms.txt.
Latest values as text and table
Consumer Price Index — categories
Latest reading, September 2026: Headline CPI · YoY 2.1%; Core CPI (less fresh food) · YoY 2.2%; Core-core CPI (less fresh food & energy) · YoY 2.4%; Headline CPI · MoM 0.0%; Headline CPI · 3m Annualized 2.4%.
| Period | Headline CPI (index) | Core CPI (less fresh food) (index) | Core-core CPI (less fresh food & energy) (index) | Headline CPI · YoY (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 102.2 | 102.3 | 102.8 | 2.1 |
| Aug 2026 | 102.2 | 102.0 | 102.5 | 1.9 |
| Jul 2026 | 102.0 | 102.1 | 102.1 | 1.9 |
| Jun 2026 | 101.6 | 101.7 | 101.7 | 1.7 |
| May 2026 | 101.5 | 101.6 | 101.6 | 1.5 |
| Apr 2026 | 101.0 | 101.1 | 101.4 | 1.3 |
| Mar 2026 | 100.6 | 100.7 | 101.4 | 1.4 |
| Feb 2026 | 100.2 | 100.2 | 101.1 | 1.3 |
| Jan 2026 | 100.8 | 100.7 | 101.0 | 1.5 |
| Dec 2025 | 100.9 | 100.9 | 101.1 | 2.0 |
| Nov 2025 | 101.0 | 101.1 | 101.2 | 2.7 |
| Oct 2025 | 100.7 | 100.7 | 101.1 | 2.9 |
| Sep 2025 | 100.1 | 100.1 | 100.4 | 2.9 |
YoY: (index[t] / index[t−12 months] − 1) × 100, from published index values.
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan. · Data through September 2026 · JSON · CSV · Markdown