Results of the Regional Economic and Industrial Research (July-September 2012)

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has compiled the results of the regional economic and industrial research, which the regional Bureaus of Economy, Trade and Industry (including the Hokuriku Branch of the Electricity and Gas Industry, and the Economy, Trade and Industry Department of the Okinawa General Bureau) conduct on a quarterly basis to identify regional economic trends, and METI hereby releases the results.

<Highlights of the results>
There were no assessments of economic conditions in regions that were revised upward this quarter, and such assessments in one region, the Okinawa area, remained the same. Business conditions remained favorable showed good performance, mainly in the transport equipment industry, due to the effect of the Eco-car Subsidy, while the assessments of economic conditions in nine regions (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, Hokuriku, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu areas) were revised downward due to domestic demand decrease in a wide variety of industries.

Overall, METI revised the assessments of regional economic conditions downward as "the pace of recovery in the regional economic conditions is weakening, and some regions shows stalling growth."