Japan's services producer prices rose 3.7% in August, led by ocean freight
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readPrices that Japanese companies charge each other for services rose 3.7% in August from a year earlier, according to preliminary figures from the Bank of Japan's Services Producer Price Index released on 28 September. That was up from 3.6% in July. Excluding international transportation, the index rose 3.2%, unchanged from the month before. On the month, the headline index rose 0.3%.
The biggest movers in the year-on-year rate were in transport and leasing. Ocean freight transportation rose 74.2% on the year, after 67.4% in July, and leasing rose 21.1%, after 19.7%, driven by leasing of computers, communications equipment and cars. Internet, newspaper, magazine and other advertising services rose 4.0%, after 0.9%.
Other items slowed. Hotel prices rose 1.6% on the year, down from 6.3% in July, and software development rose 2.5%, down from 3.4%, with custom software cited as the main contributor.
The index has run above 3% since March; on a calendar-year basis it rose 3.0% in 2025 and 3.2% in 2024.
What it means
Services producer prices feed into consumer services inflation with a lag, which is why the Bank of Japan tracks them. The headline figure is being lifted by international freight, which is volatile and tied to shipping conditions outside Japan; the measure excluding international transport, steady at 3.2%, is the better read on domestic pricing, and it has not accelerated.