Japan : economy statistics and industry reports

Japan's industrial sector is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels.

A tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world.

Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan imports about 60% of its food on a caloric basis.

Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch.

For three decades, overall real economic growth had been spectacular - a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s.

Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.

7%, largely because of the after effects of inefficient investment and an asset price bubble in the late 1980s that required a protracted period of time for firms to reduce excess debt, capital, and labor.

Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, Japan in 2010 stood as the third-largest economy in the world after China, which surpassed Japan in 2001.

The Japanese financial sector was not heavily exposed to sub-prime mortgages or their derivative instruments and weathered the initial effect of the recent global credit crunch, but a sharp downturn in business investment and global demand for Japan's exports in late 2008 pushed Japan further into recession.

Government stimulus spending helped the economy recover in late 2009 and 2010, but Tokyo is warning that GDP growth will slow in 2011.

Prime Minister Kan's government has proposed opening the agricultural and services sectors to greater foreign competition and boosting exports through free-trade agreements, but debate continues on restructuring the economy and funding new stimulus programs in the face of a tight fiscal situation.

Japan's huge government debt, which exceeds 200% of GDP, persistent deflation, reliance on exports to drive growth, and an aging and shrinking population are major complications for the economy.