The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported on Tuesday that consumer prices in Tokyo, available a month before the nationwide data, increased 0.2 percent y-o-y this month after a 0.3 percent y-o-y advance in August. That exceeded economists’ estimate of 0.1 percent y-o-y. The growth was mainly attributable to the gains in food (+2.0 percent y-o-y), transportation and communication (+0.9 percent y-o-y) and housing (+0.7 percent y-o-y). At the same time, education (-8.8 percent y-o-y) and culture and recreation (-2.2 percent y-o-y) recorded the biggest declines.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo core consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.2 percent y-o-y in September, following a 0.3 percent y-o-y decline in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent y-o-y drop.