TOKYO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The average land prices in Japan rose for the fifth consecutive year amid a modest economic recovery, government data showed Tuesday.

The nationwide average land prices in all categories climbed 2.8 percent from a year earlier as of Jan. 1, marking the sharpest increase since the burst of Japan's asset price bubble in the early 1990s, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Commercial land prices rose 4.3 percent nationally from a year earlier, with the figure jumping 7.8 percent across the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

Residential land prices climbed 2.1 percent across the country and 3.5 percent in the same three urban centers.

Prices for commercial land increased in 38 of the country's 47 prefectures, while those for residential land rose in 31 prefectures.

Tokyo returned to the top spot for the steepest rise in residential land prices for the first time in 18 years, driven by robust demand for condominiums in the heart of the capital.