According to data released by the Japanese Ministry of General Affairs on the 20th, Japan's core consumer price index (CPI) after removing fresh food in September was 105.7, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%, marking the 25th consecutive month of increase. This is the first time since September 2022 that the year-on-year growth rate of core CPI has dropped below 3%. The report shows that rising food prices are still the main factor driving up CPI. Food prices increased by 9% year-on-year in that month, higher than the 8.6% increase in the previous month. The decrease in electricity and gas bills will drive the downward trend of CPI. Affected by the decline in imported energy prices, the year-on-year decreases in electricity and gas bills for the month were 24.6% and 12.5%, respectively. Japan's core CPI has exceeded the Bank of Japan's 2% target for 18 consecutive months. The Chief Economist of Japan's First Life Economics Research Institute, Yoshihiro Nagahama, predicts that the driving force of rising food and service prices will decrease in the future, and the core CPI growth may further slow down.