Exports propel Japan as the most diversified economy

Exports boost Japan as the most diversified economy in the world, according to a report by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Japan, with its high level of development, its high income, its market orientation and its population of 126.2 million inhabitants (as of March 1, 2019) remains the third largest economy in the world in terms of domestic product gross (GDP), after the United States and China.

According to the World Bank’s index of economic complexity, Japan continues to be the most diversified economy in the world, thanks to its exports of highly developed products, and its service sector, which is the backbone of the economy.

In 2019, Japan’s exports of products to the world totaled 706,000 million dollars and its imports totaled 721,000 million dollars, in both cases with a negative interannual rate of 4 percent.

According to the WTO, its population ages and is the developed country with the highest ratio of public debt (gross financial liabilities of general government) to GDP.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to play an important role in the economy.

However, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), despite public aid, they suffer from a productivity deficit compared to large companies and find it difficult to take advantage of international business opportunities.

Japanese exports

Until before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government continued to support growth, loosen financial conditions, reduce the fiscal deficit, and increase employment and women’s participation in the labor force, thus achieving the country’s record longest period of economic expansion since the end of the war.

Japan’s exports of services totaled $ 201 billion in 2019, an increase of 6%; while its imports were pr 202,000 million dollars, a growth of 2%, at annual rates.

Japan indicators

In recent years, several changes have been made to Japan’s export control regime with respect to goods and destinations.

Japan does not tax exports, nor does it maintain any export quotas or apply export subsidy programs.