Concerns among Japanese people about prices and food safety have increased sharply since a year ago, according to a government survey. The survey of 5,494 adults nationwide also found that a record high 57.0 percent have a sense of patriotism, the Cabinet Office said. Asked about areas where they see deterioration, prices were mentioned by 42.3 percent and food was cited by 40.9 percent in the survey conducted in February. These percentages represented three-fold increases from a survey in January 2007 and marked record highs since this question was first asked in 1998, the office said. Multiple answers were allowed in the survey. At the top of the list of areas in which people see deterioration was the economy, cited by 43.4 percent, up 22.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The results "appear to reflect the impact on people's lives of increases in the prices of crude oil and cereals," an official at the Cabinet Office said. "A series of false labeling of food products and poisoning cases involving Chinese-made dumplings also cast a shadow." In contrast, the area of science and technology was at the top of the list where people saw improvement for the second year running, cited by 21.2 percent, up 1.5 points. Health care and welfare, which had been at the top of the improving areas until 2006, slipped to fourth place. It was mentioned by 15.1 percent. Asked if they had a strong sense of love for the country, 57 percent of the respondents said they have either a "very strong" or "rather strong" sense, up 4.9 points. Those who said they have a "very weak" or "rather weak" sense of patriotism dropped 2.7 points to 7 percent. Asked what they feel proud of about Japan, 48.1 percent said "a long history and tradition," up 4.5 points, followed by "beautiful nature" and "excellent culture and arts."