The producer price index, which measures costs of goods traded between businesses, rose for 33 months in a row, but the pace of growth has been slowing for 11 straight months after peaking at 10.6 percent last December, according to the BOJ.
Government subsidies aimed at curbing gasoline prices pushed down the index's increase by 0.9 percentage points, the BOJ said.
Producer prices were up for 405 of the 515 items surveyed, while prices fell for 93 items.
Prices of electricity, gas and water fell sharply, down by 24.5 percent, while prices of lumber and wood products dropped 16.7 percent and those for iron and steel fell 4.1 percent.
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