Japan's national consumer price index (CPI) excluding fresh food declined 0.4% in May from a year earlier, the state-run Statistics Bureau said in a report on Friday. The so-called core inflation rate had plunged 0.3% annually in each of the past two months.

The national consumer price index fell 0.4% in the 12 months through May following a 0.3% decline the previous month.

Core inflation in Tokyo, Japan's capital and largest city, fell 0.5% in June following a 0.5% drop the month before, official data showed.