The Japanese economy is expected to remain resilient in 2023 as economic activity begins to normalise in a number of areas, against the backdrop of downgrading legal classification of Covid 19 easing the border restrictions, and rising wages. On the other hand, Japan's long term structural issues, such as low energy self sufficiency, a declining population, stagnant productivity, and national security remain problematic In fact, the Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted the significance of these challenges. With an energy self sufficiency rate of around 11 the lowest among OECD countries, rising energy prices resulted in a trade deficit of approximately JPY 20 trillion in 2022 the largest deficit since 1979 based on comparable date With regard to population, the number of births in Japan fell below 800 000 in 2022 for the first time since 1899. Now that the Covid 19 outbreak is settling down, it is time to place more importance on tackling these issues.
pdf How structural issues could be used to transform Japan into
Written by Yuko Iizuka, Economist, Asset Management One Co., Ltd.