According to cheeroutdoor, Japan is the second largest economic power in the world after the USA. GDP 538,120.6 billion yen, per capita 4.2 million yen (2002). The share of the Japanese economy in the world economy in 2002 was 11.2%. The population of Japan aged at least 15 years is 108.3 million people, of which 67.7 million people were in the economically active population. (64.5 million employed and 3.2 million unemployed); 40.6 million people were outside the economically active population. (including 17.8 million householders and 8.2 million students) (2002).
Modern Japan does not know inflation. But deflation is a serious problem for it: if the price index for corporate products and the consumer price index in 2000 are taken as 100, then in 2001 the former decreased by 2.3%, and in 2002 by 2.0%, the latter decreased by 1, respectively, 1% and 1.0%. Some consumers take advantage of falling prices to purchase goods, but the majority delay purchases in anticipation of their further reduction in price, hindering the recovery of the economy, which is experiencing a long-term stagnation. Deflation puts individuals and legal entities weighed down by debt obligations in a particularly difficult position.
Sectoral structure of GDP: agriculture, forestry and fisheries 1.9%, extractive industry 0.2, manufacturing 25.8, construction 9.3, transport and communications 6.4, energy, gas industry, water supply 3.1, wholesale and retail 12.5, finance, insurance, real estate 16.1, private services 20.9, public services 3.8% (2002).
The distribution of the employed population by sectors of the national economy: agriculture, forestry and fisheries 5.3%, mining 0.1, manufacturing 21.8, construction 10.5, transport, communications, energy, gas, water supply 6.8, wholesale and retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate transactions 25.1, private services 27.1, public services 3.3%.
Japanese industry, from con. 1960s which occupies the 2nd place in the world in terms of production volume, is in a constant process of restructuring, during which energy, capital and labor-intensive industries give way to science-intensive, high-tech ones. Partially, the restructuring is carried out by curtailing the capacities of the first group of industries or by transferring a significant share of these capacities to developing countries, and partly through the forced saturation of the industries of the second group with the latest achievements of scientific and technological progress with comprehensive support from the state (however, the development of high technologies, of course, in on a smaller scale, occurs in the first group of industries). The restructuring of industry is illustrated by the dynamics of the structure of its conditionally net production. In 1980 and 2002, the GDP created in individual industries was: food and tobacco 15.9 and 11.3%; textile, clothing, leather and footwear 3.1 and 1.4; woodworking and pulp and paper 2.8 and 2.9; chemical 4.8 and 8.2; oil and coal processing 11.2 and 4.3; production of building materials and ceramics 4.1 and 3.6; ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy 11.8 and 7.2; metalworking 5.3 and 6.0; general engineering 8.6 and 12.5; electrical and electronic engineering 4.1 and 16.1; transport engineering 8.7 and 10.1; instrumentation 1.4 and 1.5; other industries 18.2 and 14.9%. The undisputed leaders of modern Japanese industry are electrical and electronic engineering, general engineering, chemical industry and transport engineering. It is in these industries that the production of integrated circuits, computers, multi-system video recorders,
In agriculture, there are 2.3 million peasant households (426.4 thousand were engaged only in agricultural production, and 1.9 million – partially) with a population of 10.5 million people, of which 3.9 million people. participated in agricultural production (2002). The total area under crops is 4.6 million hectares (94.4% of the area of cultivated land), and rice was sown on 1.8 million hectares, wheat and barley – on 283.2 thousand hectares, legumes – on 179.3 thousand hectares., fruit trees – by 290.7 thousand, green vegetables – by 633.2 thousand, industrial crops – by 194.3 thousand and fodder – by 1.0 million hectares. The volume of crop production (2002): rice – 9.2 million tons, wheat and barley – 788 thousand, legumes – 315 thousand, vegetables – 15.8 million, fruits – 4.0 million, industrial crops – 5.6 million, fodder – 3.8 million tons. In the same year, livestock farms produced 8.5 million tons of milk, 2.5 million pieces. eggs, 99 thousand tons of butchered chickens, 1.3 million tons of pork carcasses, 539 thousand tons of cattle carcasses, 0.9 thousand tons of veal carcasses, 7.3 thousand tons of horse carcasses, 134 thousand tons of sheep carcasses and 138 thousand tons of goat carcasses. Japanese agriculture is a branch of small-scale land use. Although restrictions on the size of land plots, introduced by the post-war agrarian reform to prevent the revival of landlord latifundia, have been relaxed, land concentration is extremely slow due to high land prices. The concentration of production proceeds rapidly only in animal husbandry, where large allotments are not needed. In addition to individual farms, agricultural firms and joint farms operate in the industry, which are a type of production cooperation.
Japan has a highly developed transport and communications network. The post-war era is characterized by the explosive growth of road and air transport and the decline in the share of rail transport. The length of highways is 1.2 million km (including express highways – 6.5 thousand km, ordinary highways of national importance – 54 thousand km, prefectural roads – 128 thousand km, city, township and village roads – 974 thousand km), railways – 26.9 thousand km (2002). In the same year, trucks transported 5.9 billion tons of cargo (307 billion tkm), railways 59 million tons (23 billion tkm), coastal ships 523 million tons (229 tkm), domestic airlines 1.1 million tons (1. 0 billion tkm). Cars and buses carried 62.0 billion passengers (956 billion passenger/km), trains – 21.7 billion passengers (385 billion passengers/km), ships – 120 million passengers (4. 5 billion passenger/km) and domestic airlines – 92 million passengers (79 billion passenger/km) (2002). There are more than 2,000 seaports in Japan, but only 90 of them can receive ships with a displacement of 10,000 tons or more. The largest of them: Yokohama (trade in 2002 – 9.0 trillion yen), Osaka (4.0), Tokyo (8.9), Kobe (6.1), Nagasaki (182 billion), Nagoya (8.9), Moji (767 billion), Shimizu (2.2). 84 airports are divided into three classes (the first includes two international airports in Tokyo – Narita (trade in 2002 19.2 trillion yen) and Haneda (301 billion) and one in Osaka – Kansai (5.4); the second – 25 large airports for domestic traffic; in the third – 45 small airports for the same traffic) and 10 unclassified (shared by business and the Self-Defense Forces). The qualitative improvement of the technical base of transport is the main direction of its development (an increase in the number of highways and railways for high-speed traffic, the introduction of electronic computers and information technology in transportation management systems and vehicles, new forms of transport services, etc.). The communication network of Japan is represented by both traditional (post, telephone, telegraph, which are rapidly being modernized), and completely new types of equipment and services (mobile phones, facsimile, cable television, teletext, video text, Internet). In 2002, 24.8 thousand post offices received 25.8 billion letters and postcards, 319 million parcels, sent 103 million letters and postcards, as well as 2 million parcels abroad, and received 285 million letters and postcards from abroad and 2, 3 million parcels. In the same year, the number of subscribers to regular phones reached 58.5 million, to mobile phones – 41.5 million, to pagers – 3.7 million, to fax – 1.2 million, to video text – 300.9 thousand. pers. The number of servers distributing information over the Internet is approaching 1.5 million units.
Domestic trade is one of the largest sectors of the Japanese economy. In 2002, its wholesale sector had 425.9 thousand enterprises with 4.5 million people. employed with annual sales of 495.5 trillion yen. The corresponding figures for retail are 1.4 million enterprises, 8.0 million employees and 143.8 billion yen. In both wholesale and retail trade, the vast majority of enterprises fall into the category of the smallest, small and medium, but the “weather” in both sub-sectors is made by large ones. In the wholesale trade, these are department stores; in retail, they are large department stores, supermarkets, and nationwide chain systems. Their position will be strengthened both in connection with the large-scale diversification of services based on the latest technological advances (information networks, electronic card systems, computerization,
Japan has always been distinguished by a high level of service for production and the population. In recent decades, however, the introduction of numerous achievements of scientific and technological progress into this area has changed this area beyond recognition. Thus, the production of business services has become a new branch of the economy, including information services, consulting on managerial, technical and financial issues, leasing, engineering, marketing, mediation in finding the necessary personnel, etc. The growth of the material well-being of the population stimulated an unprecedented diversification of the types of its services, the development of new branches of consumer services (interior design, redevelopment of dwellings, housekeeping consultations, robotic cafes, fitness centers, theme parks, complex rental of various information technology, specialized department stores, shops, animal nurseries, TV business schools, legal and psychological counseling, securities trading, etc.). The tourism industry has become an important sector of the economy (almost 70 million people annually travel around the country, almost 15 million people travel abroad; about 3 million foreign tourists visit Japan every year). In 2002, 1.5 million enterprises operated in the field of business and consumer services with 11.8 million employees (sales value – 201.7 trillion yen). ; OK. 3 million foreign tourists visit Japan every year). In 2002, 1.5 million enterprises operated in the field of business and consumer services with 11.8 million employees (sales value – 201.7 trillion yen). ; OK. 3 million foreign tourists visit Japan every year). In 2002, 1.5 million enterprises operated in the field of business and consumer services with 11.8 million employees (sales value – 201.7 trillion yen).
The main role in the monetary system of Japan is played by the central bank, a dozen city banks (3.0 thousand branches), several dozen regional banks of the first (7.8 thousand branches) and second (3.9 thousand branches) category, trust -banks (446 branches), long-term credit banks (44 branches) and 24.7 thousand post offices in their role as savings banks. The Central Bank is the country’s only currency issuer, the lender of last resort to the banking system, and the government’s treasurer. It also implements monetary policy, including changes in the official discount rate, open market operations, and changes in reserve requirements. Ordinary commercial banks (city and regional) rely on savings deposits in lending activities. They participate in both short-term and long-term financing. Often they have close ties with individual enterprises or their groups (keiretsu), which receive the bulk of the loans of “their” bank. City banks, headquartered in major cities but operating nationwide, are the giants of the Japanese banking system. Long-term credit banks provide a stable flow of long-term loans to finance capital assets. Trust banks differ from commercial banks in that, in addition to banking and proxy transactions, they also perform the functions of savings institutions. Mutual savings banks, credit associations, and credit cooperatives serve small businesses, while agricultural cooperative associations fund their members.
The General Account of the Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Central Government of Japan is considered the most important of all government budgets. In addition to it, there are individual budgets for a group of special accounts established to carry out various economic measures of the government. In the revenue part, the state budget is formed mainly from tax revenues (approximately 40% comes from personal income tax, about 30% – from corporate tax and the same amount – from indirect taxes – on alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, luxury goods). The largest expenditure items of the state budget: social security expenditures (approximately 20%), public debt service (20%), redistribution of prefectural taxes for the needs of local administrations (20%), public works (11%), education and science (8% ). Until ser. 1970s government spending was mostly covered by tax revenues. The decline in the latter due to the oil crisis forced the government to authorize the issuance of bonds to cover the budget deficit. The scale of this issue is constantly increasing, and by 2002, Japan’s public debt reached 140% of GDP.
During the post-war decades, the material situation of the population has improved dramatically, and at present Japan is confidently included in the group of the most developed countries of the world in terms of key indicators of the standard of living. Only in 1975-2002 the average monthly wage of permanent workers in all industries at enterprises with more than 30 employees. increased by 2.2 times, reaching 398 thousand yen. Corresponding indicators for enterprises with the number of employees from 5 to 29 people. Equal to 2.1 times and 355 thousand yen and for enterprises with the number of employees from 1 to 4 people. – 2.3 times and 197 thousand yen. In the most dynamic industries, these data were much overlapped. During the same 27 years, incomes of families headed by employees increased 2.4 times and reached 561.0 thousand yen, while expenses increased 2.9 times and amounted to 1.0 million yen. The structure of expenditures clearly reflected the improvement in the consumer life of the population: in 1975 food was 30.0%; housing 5.1; heating, lighting and water supply 4.1; furniture and household utensils 5.0; clothing and footwear 9.0; medical care 2.4; transport and communications 6.6; education 2.7; books and leisure 8.5; other purposes (mainly various types of services not included in other items) 26.7%. The corresponding figures for 2002 were: 21.9; 6.3; 6.2; 3.3; 5.0; 3.2; 12.8; 5.3; 9.9 and 25.9%. Given the virtual absence of price increases, the fall in the share of spending on food is the first sign of improving living standards. The same is evidenced by the increase in the share of expenditures on housing (increase in the number of homeowners and the commissioning of higher quality houses), on heating, lighting and water supply (mainly due to the saturation of households with various types of electrical equipment), transport and communications (motorization of the country and the introduction of mobile phones), medical care, education and leisure (increased attention to the state of health in an aging society, medical advances in the fight against diseases, strengthening the dependence of a career on the amount of accumulated knowledge, a strict division of work time and rest time). At the same time, the drop in the share of expenditures on furniture and household utensils, clothing and footwear indicates a high degree of saturation of households with the corresponding goods. This is also evidenced by the stagnant share of expenditures for other purposes.
In the 1960s families headed by employees saved up to 20% of their income. This was explained by the underdevelopment of consumer and housing credit, the low level of social protection of the population, the absence of a system of tax incentives for investments in real estate, and the lag in adapting consumption to the rapidly increasing level of personal disposable income. In the 1980s the savings rate remained at the level of 15-17% of disposable income, in the 1990s. decreased to 12-13%. Nevertheless, the prevalence of durable goods in households is very high. In 2002, 86.2% of households owned air conditioners, 95.3% microwave ovens, 98.4% refrigerators, 99.3% washing machines, 99.2% color televisions, 79.3% VCRs, 85. 3% – cars, 50.1% – personal computers, etc.
Japan is one of the world’s leading trading powers. Foreign trade is vital for it to provide raw materials and foodstuffs and to market its products. The export quota is 10-12% of GDP, the share of imports in domestic final consumption is 10.4%. The export orientation of the manufacturing industry is an important pillar of economic growth.
The post-war structure of exports underwent a number of significant shifts: in the 1960s. textile and other light industry products gave way to heavy industry products (steel, engineering, chemical), in the 1970s. the importance of the export of industrial raw materials decreased, and the leading positions were transferred to the products of the electrical and electronic industry and other types of products with a high share of newly created value, in the 1980-90s. the export of high-tech products (computers, semiconductors, video recorders, machine tools with program control, facsimile machines) began to play a dominant role. Accordingly, the objects of “trade wars” between Japan and its partners, primarily with the United States, also changed. In 2002, the volume of exports of goods and services amounted to 60.7 trillion yen in 1995 prices.
Noticeable changes have also taken place in the post-war decades in the structure of Japanese imports. Immediately after the end of the war, fuel, raw materials for the textile industry and food accounted for the bulk of it. The progress of Japanese heavy industry and the fall in prices for mineral fuels and raw materials for metallurgy led to an increase in the scale of their imports and to a relative decrease in the importance of imports of raw materials for the textile industry. Before the beginning 1970s the share of crude oil in imports did not reach 20%, but as a result of the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, prices for it and other types of mineral fuels increased sharply, and in 1980 they accounted for approximately 50% of total imports. Subsequently, the decline in crude oil prices and the successful efforts of Japanese industry to save energy, brought the share of mineral fuel in Japanese imports to 24.2%. At the same time, the share of finished industrial products began to grow rapidly in imports. For the 1990s it exceeded 50% of total imports. In 2002, the volume of imports of goods and services amounted to 47.1 trillion yen in 1995 prices. Japan’s main import partners: USA (19.0% of all Japanese imports), China (14.5), Republic of Korea (5.4), Taiwan (4.7), Indonesia (4.3), United Arab Emirates ( 3.9), Malaysia (3.8), Saudi Arabia (3.7), Germany (3.4) and Thailand (2.8%). In 2001, foreign direct investment in Japan amounted to 39.6 trillion yen, portfolio – 170.0 trillion yen. Foreign direct investment in Japan amounted to 6.6 trillion yen, portfolio – 87.8 trillion yen.
