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Survey Results of Factory Location Trends in 2020 (Preliminary Report) (January-December)

Japanese

March 31, 2021

SME & Regional Economic Policy

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) conducted the Survey of Factory Location Trends, targeting businesses in the manufacturing, gas supply, heating supply and electricity supply sectors that acquired 1,000 m2 or more of land in 2020 (January-December) for the purpose of constructing factories. METI hereby announces that it has compiled the results into a report.

Outline of the report

◆ The number of new factory locations acquired by the manufacturing and other sectors was 826 (down by 19.3% on a year-on-year basis), while the new locations cover a total area of 1,148 ha (down by 11.1% on a year-on-year basis). (See page 4 of the Appendix.)
Note: 1 ha = 10,000 m2

Changes in number of new factory locations
Locations (number)

  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
First half 478 467 525 663 564 450
Second half 592 559 510 479 459 376
Annual total 1070 1026 1035 1142 1023 826

Changes in total area of new factory locations
Total area (ha)

  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
First half 570 623 645 732 736 551
Second half 638 674 839 587 555 597
Annual total 1208 1297 1484 1320 1291 1148
◆ Looking at the trends regarding new factory locations by sector, the total number of new locations decreased steeply. This was due to the metal products and transportation machinery sectors showing significant decreases in the number of new locations. In terms of the area of new locations, the top four sectors (food, metal products, production machinery, and transportation machinery) showed decreases. (See page 11 of the Appendix.)
◆ The share of new factory locations that companies acquired in the same prefecture as their head offices are located remained unchanged at 60 to 70% of the total number of new locations. Regarding the factors companies prioritized when selecting where to locate new factories, "closeness to our own head office / factories" was cited by the largest number of respondents—175—and "being in an industrial park" was cited by the second largest. (See page 18 of the Appendix.)

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