Joint Press Release with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and CommunicationsPreliminary Results for the Manufacturing Industry of the 2012 Economic Census for Business Activity Released

In January 2013, METI released the preliminary results of the 2012 Economic Census for Business Activity covering all industries, aiming to chronologically compare the results with the data in the Census of Manufacturers that it has conducted since 1909 for the purpose of discovering the actual conditions of Japan's manufacturing industry. In addition to such preliminary results, METI and MIC have compiled preliminary results for the manufacturing industry, as tabulated data concerning the actual conditions of the industry, which are categorized by 24 industries and are more detailed than the data of the same industry shown in the 2012 Economic Census for Business Activity.

Reference: Preliminary results of 2012 Economic Census for Business Activity for all industries
(already released on January 29, 2013):
http://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2013/0129_03.html

1) Condition of establishments

In FY 2012, the number of manufacturing establishments with 10 or more employees was 120,586, down by 3.2% from the previous year declining for five consecutive years, and there were 6,793,480 employees, down by 3.8% from the previous year declining for four consecutive years.

The total value of shipments of manufactured products was 276.5616 trillion yen, down by 2.1% from the previous year, and the amount of added value was 87.2553 trillion yen, down by 0.2% from the previous year. Both of them are the first declines in two years.

2) Conditions by industry

With regard to each industry, the number of establishments decreased in 21 out of 24 industries, such as the manufacture of food (down by 7.8% from the previous year) and manufacture of fabricated metal products (down by 3.7% from the previous year). The number of employees decreased in 22 out of 24 industries, such as the manufacture of food (down by 8.3% from the previous year) and manufacture of information and communication electronics equipment (down by 8.9% from the previous year).

The total value of shipments of manufactured products decreased in 14 out of 24 industries, such as the manufacture of transportation equipment (down by 7.1% from the previous year) and manufacture of information and communication electronics equipment (down by 22.3% from the previous year), while it increased in the manufacture of production machinery (up by 13.6% from the previous year) and manufacture of petroleum and coal products (up by 10.3% from the previous year). The amount of added value decreased in 10 industries, such as the electronic parts, devices and electronic circuits (down by 10.3% from the previous year) and the manufacture of iron and steel (down by 16.3% from the previous year), while it increased in the manufacture of production machinery (up by 12.1% from the previous year) as well as in the manufacture of petroleum and coal products (up by 41.5% from the previous year).

3) Conditions of the areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake

As the number of establishments decreased mainly in the manufacture of food, there were decreases in Iwate Prefecture, down by 9.9% from the previous year, Miyagi Prefecture, down by 17.0% from the previous year, and Fukushima Prefecture, down by 9.6% from the previous year, all of which showed a significant decline compared with a decrease in the entire manufacturing industry in Japan (down by 3.2% from the previous year).

Concerning the total value of shipments of manufactured products, as there were decreases mainly in the manufacture of food in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures as well as in the manufacture of information and communication electronics equipment in Fukushima, the values declined by 9.3%, 23.4%, and 16.4% from the previous year respectively. With regard to the amount of added value, as there were decreases mainly in the electronic parts, devices and electronic circuits in Iwate Prefecture, the manufacture of food in Miyagi Prefecture, and manufacture of information and communication electronics equipment in Fukushima, the amount decreased by 19.1%, 19.3%, and 24.3% from the previous year respectively.

Reference: Full text of the Preliminary Results for the Manufacturing Industry of the 2012 Economic Census for Business Activity
http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2012/03/20130322003/20130322003-2.pdf(PDF:1,110KB) (in Japanese) 　

Detailed results will be released for each industry successively from August 2013 onward. They will cover the value of sales, number of employees, etc., tabulated by industry (e.g. about 1,400 industries in "wholesale and retail trade") and by region, as well as specific characteristics of the respective industries (e.g. the shop floor space in "wholesale and retail trade").

With regard to the manufacturing industry, further detailed results tabulated by industry (about 550 industries), commodity (about 1,800 commodities), and prefecture and municipality, will be additionally released in August 2013.

The census data is available by downloading them from the following website:
http://www.meti.go.jp/statistics/tyo/census/index.html (in Japanese)

March 22, 2013

Structural Statistics Office, Research and Statistics Department, Minister's Secretariat