Economy of Japan

Japan is Ranked Second In The World:
Japan ranks second with its free-market economy in the market exchange rates (with GDP at over $4.5 trillion in 2005). Government- industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation have helped Japan advance with extraordinary speed to become one of the largest economies in the world. 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.

Recession in 1990's:
Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely due to the after- effects of over-investment during the late 1980s and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000 to 2001 by the slowing of the global economy.

Recovery in 2005:
However, the economy saw signs of strong recovery in 2005. GDP growth for the year was 2.8%, with an annualized fourth quarter expansion of 5.5%, surpassing the growth rate of the US and European Union during the same period. Unlike previous recovery trends, domestic consumption has been the dominant factor in leading the growth. Hence, the Japanese government predicts that recovery will continue in 2006.Characteristics of Japanese Economy:

Statistics:
- Currency: Japanese Yen (¥JPY)
- Fiscal year: 1 April – 31 March
- Trade organizations APEC, WTO and OECD
- GDP ranking: 3rd by volume (at PPP) (2005); 12th by per - - capita (at PPP) (2005)
- GDP: $4.9 trillion (2005)
- GDP growth: 2.4% (2005 est.)
- GDP per capita: (real GDP) $30,700 (2005 est.)
- GDP by sector: agriculture (1.3%), industry (25.3%), services (73.5%) (2005 est.) Inflation: -0.5% (2004 est.)
- Labor force: 66.4 million (2005 est.)
- Labor force by occupation: agriculture (4.6%), industry (27.8%), services (67.7%) (2004)
- Unemployment: 4.3% (2005 est.)
- Main industries: motor vehicles, industrial and transportation equipment, electronics, chemicals, steel, machine tools, processed foods, nonferrous metals

Trading Partners:
- Exports: $550.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
- Main partners: U.S. 22.7%, China 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Taiwan 7.4%, Hong Kong 6.3% (2004)
- Imports: $401.8 billion (2004)
- Main Partners: China 20.7%, U.S. 14%, South Korea 4.9%, Australia 4.3% (2004)

Public finances:
- Public debt: 164.3% of GDP (2004) 98% of these are domestic debt.
- External debt: $1.545 trillion (2004)
- Revenues: $1,401 billion (2004)
- Expenses: $1,748 billion (inc. $71 billion in capital expenditures) (2004)
- Economic aid: ODA, $7 billion (FY03/04)