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Japan ECONOMY
Gross National Product (GNP): US$3.7 trillion;
per capita
GNP US$29,760 in 1992.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): US$3.3 trillion;
per capita
GDP US$27,005 in 1991.
Resources: Coal reserves in north and southwest;
otherwise, minerals negligible. Most resources, including
almost
all nonrenewable energy sources, imported.
Mining and Manufacturing: 29.3 percent of GDP in
1991.
Basic industries: automobile manufacturing and consumer
electronics. Nonferrous metals, petrochemicals,
pharmaceuticals,
bioindustry, aerospace, textiles, and processed foods also
important. Older heavy industries--mining, steel, and
shipbuilding-
-in decline but still important worldwide. High-technology
industries prevalent, e.g., semiconductors, computers,
optical
fibers, optoelectronics, video discs, facsimile and copy
machines,
and industrial robots.
Services: 55.7 percent of GDP in 1991. Wholesale
and
retail trade dominant. Advertising, data processing,
publishing,
tourism, leisure industries, and entertainment growing
rapidly.
Agriculture: 2.3 percent of GDP in 1991. Intense
cultivation of diminishing arable land, already in short
supply.
Rice grown on most farmland, and intercropping common.
Heavy use of
fertilizers, mechanization, and experimental high-yield
crops.
About 70 percent of country covered with forests; large
lumber
industry. World's largest fishing nation; seafood
essential to food
industry.
Exports: Approximately US$287 billion in 1990.
Major
partners United States, Germany, Hong Kong, South Korea,
and
Taiwan.
Imports: Approximately US$235 billion in 1990.
Major
partners United States, South Korea, Australia, China,
Indonesia,
and Taiwan.
Balance of Payments: Large and growing positive
trade
balance since early 1980s. Exports represented 55 percent,
imports
45 percent of total annual trade in 1990.
Fiscal Year: April 1-March 31.
Exchange Rate: ¥110.42 = US$1 (December 1993).
Data as of January 1994
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