Japan's economy is the third largest nominal gross domestic product. The country is a member of the so-called Big Seven - the club of the most developed countries in the world. Japan's GDP in 2015 was US$4,123.26 billion. The state is the third largest car manufacturer. Japan is one of the most innovative countries in the world. Production in it is focused on the production of high-tech products.
Key macroeconomic indicators
- The currency is the Japanese yen.
- Fiscal period - from April 1 to March 31.
- Membership in trade organizations - APEC, WTO, OECD.
- Nominal GDP of $4.41 trillion (as of April 2016).
- Ranking by gross domestic product: third in the world in nominal terms, fourth in purchasing power parity.
- GDP growth -1.4% (as of the fourth quarter of 2015).
- Nominal per capita gross domestic product of $34,870 (April 2016).
- GDP by sector: agriculture - 1.2%, industry - 27.5%, services - 71.4% (as of 2012).
- Main industries: Automotive, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and non-ferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, food.
- Unemployment rate - 3.4% (as of 2015).
Overview
From 1960 to 1990, Japan did not invest in defense, but directed all funds to the development of the economy. In the 60s, the annual GDP growth was 10%, in the 70s - 5%, in the 80s - 4%. From 1978 to 2010, Japan was the world's second largest economy. Now it is somewhat inferior to China. The Japanese economic miracle allowed the country to reach and even surpass the level of gross domestic product per capita of the most highly developed countries by the beginning of the 90s. It now exceeds the global average by 2 times.
Japan's GDP by years
Gross domestic product is the most important measure of an economy's productivity. The GDP of Japan in 2016 is not yet presented on the websites of the leading statistical agencies, there are only forecast data. The International Bank provides data only for 2015. Thus, Japan's GDP last year amounted to $4,123.26 billion. That's about 6.65% of the world's gross domestic product.
From 1960 to 2015, Japan's average GDP was2549.58 billion USD. The record low was recorded in 2012. Then the GDP reached 5957.25 billion dollars. The highest figure was recorded in 1960 - 44.31 billion US dollars. Between 1980 and September 2016, Japan's average GDP growth was 0.48%. The record high figure was recorded in the second quarter of 1990. Then GDP growth was 3.2%. The record low was in 1990 – -4.1%.
Japan: GDP per capita
There are no statistics for 2016 yet. Japan's per capita GDP at purchasing power parity in 2015 was $35,804.23. This is a record high. Between 1990 and 2015, Japan's average per capita GDP was $32,904.69. The record low was recorded in 1990. Then it was 29550.01 US dollars. The highest gross domestic product per capita was in 2015.
Industry structure
If we look at the gross domestic product by value-added sectors, the picture is as follows:
- Industry - 18% of GDP.
- Real estate sector - 13.2%.
- Wholesale and retail - 12.5%.
- Transport and communications - 6.8%.
- Government - 6.2%.
- Construction - 6.2%.
- Financial and insurance sector – 5.8%.
- Electrical, gas and water supply – 0.7%.
- Government services –0.7%.
- Mining - 0.05%.
- Other - 23.5%.
Agriculture contributes about 1.4% of the gross domestic product. Only 12% of Japanese land is suitable for cultivation. Therefore, on small farms, a system of terraces is often used to grow crops. The agricultural sector is subsidized by the state. Preference is given to small-scale farming.
Japan's industry is well diversified. Many advanced industries are extremely successful. Industry provides about 24% of the gross domestic product. The main industries are the production of household appliances, automobiles, semiconductors, optical media, facsimile and copy machines. However, more Japanese companies are experiencing competition from American, South Korean and Chinese manufacturers.
The service sector provides three-quarters of the gross domestic product. Its most important industries are the banking sector, insurance, real estate, retail, transport, and telecommunications. Four of the five most read newspapers in the world are Japanese. Tourism is also an important sector of the country's economy. The government aims to attract 20 million foreigners to the 2020 Summer Olympics. The financial sector is also widely developed in the state. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the fourth largest market capitalization in the world.
Foreign economic sector
In 2013, the export volume amounted to 697 billion dollars. It is dominated by carsconductors, iron and steel products, auto parts, plastics and power generating equipment. The main export partners of Japan in 2015 were the following countries: USA (20.2%), China (17.5%), Republic of Korea (7.1%), Hong Kong (5.6%), Thailand (4.5%)). The volume of exports in 2013 amounted to 766.6 billion US dollars. Goods such as oil, liquefied natural gas, clothing, semiconductors, coal, and audiovisual equipment are imported into the country. The main import partners are the following countries: China, USA, Australia, Republic of Korea. The volume of foreign direct investment in 2013 amounted to $1.41 trillion.
