TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation 5 (PS5) games console in Japan by about 20%, it said on Tuesday, citing a difficult external environment including global economic fluctations.

The console will cost 79,980 yen ($551) or 72,980 yen for a version without a disk drive from Sept. 2, the entertainment and technology conglomerate said in a blog post.

Sony has said it expects to sell 18 million PS5 consoles globally this financial year, down from 20.8 million in the same period a year earlier.