FX.co ★ Japan Producer Prices Rise the Most in 4 Months

Japan’s producer prices rose 2.6% year-on-year in March 2026, up from a slightly revised 2.1% increase in February and exceeding market expectations of 2.4%. This marked the fastest annual pace since November, reflecting persistent cost pressures.

Price growth strengthened notably in several categories, including transport equipment (1.3% vs 1.2% in February), production machinery (4.1% vs 2.7%), and information and communications (3.0% vs 2.5%). At the same time, price declines moderated for chemicals (-0.4% vs -2.5%), iron and steel (-5.0% vs -5.5%), and petroleum and coal (-7.3% vs -11.7%).

By contrast, inflation decelerated in drinks and foods (4.3% vs 4.8%), other manufacturing (2.3% vs 2.5%), metal products (0.6% vs 1.1%), general-purpose machinery (2.4% vs 2.8%), non-ferrous metals (31.1% vs 32.6%), electrical machinery (2.6% vs 2.7%), and business-oriented machinery (2.6% vs 2.7%).

On a monthly basis, producer prices climbed 0.8%, accelerating from a 0.1% increase in February and posting the strongest monthly gain since November 2022.