Rice Retail Price Increases for 14 Consecutive Weeks

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:58 JST, April 15, 2025

The average price per 5 kilograms of rice sold in supermarkets between March 31 and April 6 was ¥4,214, ¥8 higher than the previous week, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Monday. This marks the 14th consecutive week the price has increased.

It has continued to be over double that of same period last year, which was at ¥2,068.

The price of rice, which was around ¥2,000 last April, has been on the upward trend since last summer.

The price hit the ¥4,000 level for the period from March 3 to 9 for the first time since March 2022, when the data began being compiled.

In March, the ministry completed the bidding process twice for a total of 210,000 tons of stockpiled rice, in order to facilitate rice circulation in the market.

The released stockpiled rice has begun to hit supermarket shelves. However, so far it has had limited effects on price lowering.

The ministry intends to release stockpiled rice every month from April until around July, hoping to calm the market.

The agriculture ministry publishes the average price based on purchase data from about 1,000 supermarkets nationwide.