Price hikes in October will affect nearly 3,000 food products, the highest monthly figure this year, as well as other daily necessities such as mail, pharmaceuticals, electricity and gas, due to the weak yen and an increase in costs for various materials and expenses.
Prices of 2,911 products from 195 major food and beverage manufacturers will be raised in October, surpassing April¡¯s figure ¡ª the previous highest number in 2024 ¡ª by 0.5%, according to a survey by research firm Teikoku Databank.
A rise in raw material costs is the main factor behind the increase, being at least in part responsible for the price increases for 92.7% of the products. Other factors such as freight expenses (68.6%), packaging materials (66.8%), energy bills (61.1%) and personnel expenses (26.7%) also contributed to the price hikes, the survey released on Monday showed.
By category, alcoholic beverages will account for the largest number of price hikes in October, at 1,362 items, followed by processed foods such as ham and sausages (673), seasoning (301), cooking ingredients such as flour (238), snacks (237) and dairy products (100).
Asahi Soft Drinks will raise prices for 90% of its products. At the same time, ham and sausage producers such as NH Foods, Itoham Foods and Marudai Food will raise prices by up to 20%.
In the snacks category, more than half of the 237 items affected by price hikes in October use chocolate ¡ª cacao has surged in price due to extreme heat and droughts in what is known as a bean shock. Meiji¡¯s popular Kinoko no Yama and Takenoko no Sato biscuit products with chocolate topping will increase in price for the second time this year.
Teikoku Databank forecasts the average price hike for the year will be 17%, affecting a total of 12,401 products ¡ª down from 32,396 items last year.
For mail, the price of sending a sealed letter (25 grams or less, standard size) will rise from ?84 (about $0.60) to ?110, and the price of sending a postcard will rise from ?63 to ?85. This marks the first price hike for sealed letters in 30 years except for when the consumption tax rate was revised. Post offices are now selling stamps for the new rates.
Among pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter payments for brand-name drugs with patents that have expired will be raised. This applies to 1,096 products, including Hirudoid, a moisturizer prescribed for young children, and Mohrus Paps, a poultice medicine.
As the government will reduce subsidies for electricity and gas that were implemented amid extreme heat over the summer, a standard household with a monthly power consumption of 260 kilowatt-hours in the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings service area will have to pay ?396 more in October.
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