| Economy | Japan |
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Economy - overview:
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In the years following World War II, government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan develop a technologically advanced economy. Two notable characteristics of the post-war economy were the close interlocking structures of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors, known as keiretsu, and the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding under the dual pressures of global competition and domestic demographic change. Japan's industrial sector is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. A tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan imports about 60% of its food on a caloric basis. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades, overall real economic growth had been spectacular - a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of inefficient investment and an asset price bubble in the late 1980s that required a protracted period of time for firms to reduce excess debt, capital, and labor. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, Japan in 2011 stood as the third-largest economy in the world after China, which surpassed Japan in 2001. A sharp downturn in business investment and global demand for Japan's exports in late 2008 pushed Japan further into recession. Government stimulus spending helped the economy recover in late 2009 and 2010, but the economy contracted again in 2011 as the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake in March disrupted manufacturing. Electricity supplies remain tight because Japan has temporarily shut down most of its nuclear power plants after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors were crippled by the earthquake and resulting tsunami. Estimates of the direct costs of the damage - rebuilding homes, factories, and infrastructure - range from $235 billion to $310 billion, and GDP declined almost 1% in 2011. Prime Minister Yoshihiko NODA has proposed opening the agricultural and services sectors to greater foreign competition and boosting exports through membership in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and by pursuing free-trade agreements with the EU and others, but debate continues on restructuring the economy and reining in Japan's huge government debt, which exceeds 200% of GDP. Persistent deflation, reliance on exports to drive growth, and an aging and shrinking population are other major long-term challenges for the economy. |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$4.389 trillion (2011 est.)
$4.41 trillion (2010 est.)
$4.242 trillion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2011 US dollars |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$34,300 (2011 est.)
$34,600 (2010 est.)
$33,300 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2011 US dollars |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$5.855 trillion (2011 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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-0.5% (2011 est.)
4% (2010 est.)
-6.3% (2009 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 24%
services: 74.6% (2011 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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20.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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15.7% (2007)
note: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) press release, 20 October 2009 |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 27.5% (2008) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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37.6 (2008)
24.9 (1993) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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0.4% (2011 est.)
-0.7% (2010 est.) |
Central bank discount rate:
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0.3% (31 December 2009)
0.3% (31 December 2008) |
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
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1.4% (31 December 2011 est.)
1.475% (31 December 2010 est.) |
Stock of money:
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$5.417 trillion (31 December 2008)
$4.367 trillion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of money - per capita:
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42,831 USD per capita |
Stock of quasi money:
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$6.16 trillion (31 December 2008)
$4.779 trillion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of quasi money - per capita:
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48,706 USD per capita |
Stock of domestic credit:
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$16.39 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
$13.32 trillion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Stock of domestic credit - per capita:
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129,591 USD per capita |
Stock of narrow money:
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$6.696 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
$6.047 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Stock of broad money:
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$16.46 trillion (31 December 2010)
$15.43 trillion (31 December 2009) |
Labor force:
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62.74 million (2011 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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49.61 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 3.9%
industry: 26.2%
services: 69.8% (2010 est.) |
Unemployment rate:
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4.8% (2011 est.)
5% (2010 est.) |
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
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total: 9.1%
male: 10.1%
female: 8% (2009) |
Budget:
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revenues: $1.984 trillion
expenditures: $2.483 trillion (2011 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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15,687 USD per capita |
Taxes and other revenues:
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33.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
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-8.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
Public debt:
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208.2% of GDP (2011 est.)
199.7% of GDP (2010 est.) |
Industries:
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among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods |
Industrial production growth rate:
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-1.5% (2011 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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982.3 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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7,767 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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963.9 billion kWh (2008 est.) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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7,622 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2009 est.) |
Electricity - imports:
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0 kWh (2009 est.) |
Oil - production:
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131,800 bbl/day (2010 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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1,043 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
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4.452 million bbl/day (2010 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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12.85 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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366,800 bbl/day (2009 est.) |
Oil - imports:
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4.394 million bbl/day (2009 est.) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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44.12 million bbl (1 January 2011 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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3.397 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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27 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
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100.3 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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794 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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98.01 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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20.9 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish |
Current account balance:
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$122.8 billion (2011 est.)
$195.8 billion (2010 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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971 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$800.8 billion (2011 est.)
$730.1 billion (2010 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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6,332 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals |
Exports - partners:
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China 19.4%, US 15.7%, South Korea 8.1%, Hong Kong 5.5%, Thailand 4.4% (2010) |
Imports:
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$794.7 billion (2011 est.)
$639.1 billion (2010 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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6,284 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials |
Imports - partners:
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China 22.1%, US 9.9%, Australia 6.5%, Saudi Arabia 5.2%, UAE 4.2%, South Korea 4.1%, Indonesia 4.1% (2010) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$1.063 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)
$1.024 trillion (31 December 2009 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
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8,405 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$2.719 trillion (30 June 2011)
$2.441 trillion (30 September 2010) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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21,499 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$146.7 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
$199.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home - per capita:
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1,160 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$880 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
$795.7 billion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad - per capita:
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6,958 USD per capita |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$4.1 trillion (31 December 2010)
$3.378 trillion (31 December 2009)
$3.22 trillion (31 December 2008) |
Market value of publicly traded shares - per capita:
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32,418 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
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yen (JPY) |
Exchange rates:
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yen (JPY) per US dollar -
79.67 (2011 est.)
87.78 (2010 est.)
93.57 (2009)
103.58 (2008)
117.99 (2007) |
Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March |
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