Japan Drops Ties From 589-Item CPI Basket, Adds Pet Insurance and Protein Powder
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jul 10
Japan Drops Ties From 589-Item CPI Basket, Adds Pet Insurance and Protein Powder
2 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jul 10
Summary
August’s CPI basket update will remove neckties for the first time since 1948 and also drop tights and stockings, marking a formal shift in how Japan tracks household spending.
The Statistics Bureau said the 589-item basket is being reset to reflect more casual office wear, remote-work-era habits and younger consumers’ spending, with pet insurance, pineapples and bicycle helmets also added.
Protein powder’s inclusion mirrors a fast-growing wellness market: Fuji Keizai estimates protein powders, bars and drinks sales will jump about a third from 2021 to ¥211.5 billion.
The items being cut have seen steep declines, with necktie production and imports down to 11 million units—about a third of 2009 levels—and annual stockings and tights supply falling by more than half since 2016 to 125 million pairs.
The basket overhaul comes as Japan has moved from deflation to sustained inflation, a shift that has already helped push the Bank of Japan’s policy rate to 1% for the first time in 31 years.