Preliminary Report on the 2023 Basic Survey of Japanese Business Structure and Activities

Summary of the results

(1) Sales and profit conditions (see overview figures and tables 1-2 and 2-2)

[ⅰ] Sales per company were 24.74 billion yen, up by 11.3%, on a year-on-year basis.
Looking at the major sectors on a year-on-year basis, sales were 22.73 billion yen, up by 9.7%, in the manufacturing sector, 39.16 billion yen, up by 10.2%, in the wholesale sector, and 26.65 billion yen, up by 13.7%, in the retail sector.

[ⅱ] Ordinary profit per company increased by 14.0% on a year-on-year basis.
Looking at the major sectors on a year-on-year basis, profit was up by 5.8% in the manufacturing sector, 38.6% in the wholesale sector, and 5.4% in the retail sector.

[ⅲ] The ratio of ordinary profit to sales grew by 0.2 percentage points on a year-on-year basis.
Looking at the major sectors on a year-on-year basis, the ratio was down by 0.3 percentage points in the manufacturing sector, up by 1.2 percentage points in the wholesale sector, and down by 0.3 percentage points in the retail sector.

(2) Conditions regarding value added, the labor share ratio, and labor productivity (see overview figures and tables 4-1, 5-1, and 5-2)

[ⅰ] Value added increased by 2.8% on a year-on-year basis due to an increase in total payroll and other factors.
Looking at the major sectors on a year-on-year basis, value added remained constant, i.e., 0.0% change in the manufacturing sector, a 7.6% increase in the wholesale sector, and a 0.6% decline in the retail sector.

Note: Value added = operating profits + total payroll + depreciation costs + welfare expenses + rental fees of movables and real estate property + taxes and duties

[ⅱ] The labor share ratio (ratio of personnel expenses to value added) decreased by 0.3 percentage points on a year-on-year basis, owing to the fact that the rate of increase in total payroll was smaller than the rate of increase in value added.
Looking at the major sectors on a year-on-year basis, the labor share ratio was up by 0.6 percentage points in the manufacturing sector, down by 2.8 percentage points in the wholesale sector, and down by 0.1 percentage points in the retail sector.

Note: The term "labor share ratio" refers to an indicator showing the ratio of personnel expenses to value added, which explains how much of the value that a company has newly created has been allocated to personnel expenses. The ratios herein were calculated based on the following formula:
Labor share ratio = total payroll ÷ value added x 100

[ⅲ] Labor productivity (value added per regular employee) increased by 2.3% on a year-on-year basis, owing to the fact that the rate of increase in value added exceeded the rate of increase in the number of regular employees.
Looking at the major sectors on a year-on-year basis, labor productivity was up by 0.8% in the manufacturing sector, 9.5% in the wholesale sector, and 1.6% in the retail sector.

Note: The term "labor productivity" refers to an indicator used in productivity analysis, representing the value added per employee. The productivities herein were calculated based on the following formula:
Labor productivity = value added ÷ the number of regular employees 

Overview of the METI Basic Survey of Japanese Business Structure and Activities

(1) Purpose

The survey aims to clarify the current situation of Japanese enterprises' activities and gather basic data on measures related to them.

(2) Date and period of the survey

The number of enterprises, the amount of capital or investment, the business organizations, and the number of employees are those as of June 1, 2023. The other items are taken from the most recent accounting period (for the entire fiscal 1-year period or at the end of it).

(3) Targets of the survey

[ⅰ] Companies with workplaces that fall under any of the following categories:
Mining, manufacturing, electricity and gas, information services, wholesale and retail, credit card and installment finance, leasing of goods (excluding rental), scientific research, professional and technical services, eating and drinking services, living-related and personal services, and others (see Appendix).

• For the Appendix, visit here: URL (in Japanese)

[ⅱ] Companies with 50 or more employees and capital (or investment) of 30 million yen or more

(4) Number of companies targeted for the survey (as of the preliminary report of the 2023 survey)

40,302 (number of companies that responded: 35,893; response rate: 89.1%)

Division in Charge

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