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ECONOMY
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Japan
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Partners
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Economy
- Overview:
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Government-industry
cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology,
and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have
helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of
second most technologically powerful economy in the world after
the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and
China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working
together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely
knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the
guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of
the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry,
the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent
on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural
sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among
the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan
must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder
crops. 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 1992-95 largely because of the
aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary
domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from
the stock and real estate markets. Growth picked up to 3.9% in
1996, largely a reflection of stimulative fiscal and monetary
policies as well as low rates of inflation. But in 1997-98 Japan
experienced a wrenching recession, centered about financial difficulties
in the banking system and real estate markets and exacerbated
by rigidities in corporate structures and labor markets. In 1999
output started to stabilize as emergency government spending began
to take hold and business confidence gradually improved. The crowding
of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two
major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term
economic strength, with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's
720,000 "working robots". |
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GDP:
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purchasing
power parity - $2.95 trillion (1999 est.) |
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GDP
- Real Growth Rate:
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0.3%
(1999 est.) |
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GDP
- Per Capita:
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purchasing
power parity - $23,400 (1999 est.) |
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GDP
- Composition by Sector:
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agriculture:
2%
industry: 35%
services: 63% (1999 est.) |
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Population
Below Poverty Level:
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NA%
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Household
Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:
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lowest
10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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Inflation
Rate :
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-0.8%
(1999 est.) |
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Labor
Force :
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67.76
million (November 1999) |
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Labor
Force - by Occupation:
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trade
and services 65%, industry 30%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing
5% |
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Unemployment
Rate:
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4.7% (1999 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues:
$463 billion
expenditures: $809 billion, including capital expenditures
(public works only) of about $94 billion (FY00/01 est.) |
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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
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Industrial
Production Growth Rate:
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-0.1% (1999 est.) |
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Electricity
- Production:
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995.982 billion kWh (1998) |
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Electricity
- Production by Source:
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fossil
fuel: 56.68%
hydro: 8.99%
nuclear: 31.93%
other: 2.4% (1998) |
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Electricity
- Consumption:
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926.263
billion kWh (1998) |
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Electricity
- Exports:
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0
kWh (1998) |
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Electricity
- Imports:
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0
kWh (1998) |
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Agriculture
- Products:
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rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products,
eggs; fish |
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Exports:
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$413
billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.) |
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Exports
- Commodities:
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motor
vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals |
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Exports
- Partners:
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US
31%, Taiwan 7%, China 5.5%, South Korea 5.4%, Hong Kong 5.2% (1999)
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Imports:
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$306 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.) |
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Imports
-Commodities:
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fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, office machinery |
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Imports
- Partners:
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US
22%, China 14%, South Korea 5.1%, Australia 4.2%, Taiwan 4.1%
(1999) |
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Debt
- External:
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$NA
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Economic
Aid - Donor:
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ODA,
$9.1 billion (1999) |
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Currency:
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yen |
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Exchange
Rates :
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yen
per US$1 - 105.16 (January 2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998),
120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996), 94.06 (1995) |
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Fiscal
Year :
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1
April - 31 March |
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