News Bulletin
April 2008 No.2
|
The Japanese government's budget for fiscal 2008 was passed by the Diet on 28 March 2008. The nation's budget for general account spending is 83.6 trillion yen, representing an increase for two consecutive years from the initial budget for 2007. The total budget for the Statistics Bureau of Japan (SBJ) and the Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards), excluding regular personnel expenses, is approximately 26.99 billion yen, an increase of 17.8% compared to the previous year.
The increase is affected by the budget for the 2008 Housing and Land Survey, which amounts to approximately 7.02 billion yen and the preparation for the 2009 Economic Census (tentative name), which amounts to approximately 0.90 billion yen, including the demarcation of the enumeration districts and a pilot survey.
|
|
After two years of design and development by the SBJ, the Inter-Ministry Information System for Official Statistics (IMISOS) has launched on 1 April 2008. SBJ has been acting as the coordinator to streamline the statistical work and information systems of statistics departments among ministries and agencies. This is in accordance with the Optimization Plan of Business Processes and Systems of Statistical Surveys and Related Work of Official Statistics, as resolved by Ministerial Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council in March 2006 (See News Bulletin July 2006).
Under the decentralized system of Japanese statistical administration, it has usually been the case that information systems for statistical work are developed and managed by the respective ministry. However, with the pressure of effective investment and efficient operation of information technology, ministries are requested to draw up an "optimization plan" for the relevant sectors in order to limit costs, simplify and rationalize work and enhance convenience, based on the concept of Enterprise Architecture, and it is SBJ that has taken the leadership in terms of official statistics.
IMISOS consists of a dozen subsystems, of which some are detailed below:
1) Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat)
Opened on 1 April, a website named the Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat)( http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/eStatTopPortalE.do)is intended to be a one stop service for reference to official statistics of all the ministries. Part of the contents are presented in both the Japanese and English languages.
|
|
2) Statistical Table Management System (STMS)
Instead of using their own websites, ministries save spreadsheets, CSV or PDF files of statistical tables to STMS and deliver them through e-Stat. (Note: Not all the statistical data of Japanese ministries are disseminated in bilingual form).
3) Regional Statistics Analysis System (RSAS)
Various statistical data concerning prefectures and municipalities, as well as statistical indices compiled by SBJ's 'System of Social and Demographic Statistics', are stored in RSAS, and browsed in the form of tables and chart through e-Stat. The contents are presented in Japanese language and are planned to be delivered in English.
4) Online Survey System (OSS)
Thanks to OSS, ministries are able to conduct online surveys in parallel as far as possible with traditional survey methods. It is expected that conducting a survey via the Internet will help reduce the burden on survey respondents, enhancing convenience and improving data accuracy.
In addition, building such a single window for all the ministries implies not only efficient government-wide investment in information systems, but also survey respondents gaining more confidence in official statistics.
The Survey of Research and Development (R&D) is conducted annually, and provides basic data on science and technology. The results of the 2007 Survey of Research and Development, conducted as of 31 March 2007, were released in December 2007.
Japan's total expenditure on R&D during the fiscal year 2006 stood at 18,463 billion yen, an increase of 3.5% over the preceding fiscal year. This is the highest ever figure, and the total has continued increasing for seven consecutive years. The ratio of R&D spending to GDP was 3.62%, the highest ever.
|
Changes in R&D Expenditure
|
Of total expenditure, business enterprises spent 13,327 billion yen, universities and colleges 3,382 billion yen, and non-profit institutions and public organizations 1,753 billion yen.
The rates of change from the previous fiscal year were 4.6% for business enterprises, 3.6% for non-profit institutions and public organizations, and -0.7% for universities and colleges.
The private sector spent 15,067 billion yen, accounting for 81.6% of the total, while the public sector spent 3,335 billion yen.
As of 31 March 2007, the number of workers employed in R&D activities was 1,052,100, an increase of 1.5% from the previous year. Researchers numbered 826,600, up 0.8% from the previous year, while female researchers accounted for 12.4%, the highest on record.
With regard to technology balance of payments by business enterprises, receipts for technology exports reached 2,378 billion yen, a record figure and up by 17.3% from the previous fiscal year, while payments for technology imports reached 705 billion yen, also a record figure, and up by 0.2% from the previous fiscal year. Consequently, the ratio of receipts to payments (export surplus) was 3.37 (2.88 in the previous fiscal year).
Technology Balance of Payments
|
Notes:
R&D personnel are numbered as of 31 March 2007.
Financial flows such as R&D expenditure and sales are entered for the year ending on the latest settling day prior
to March 31st, 2007.
Japan's "All Items" index of consumer prices stood at 100.3 in 2007 (2005=100), unchanged from the previous year.
The "All Items index excluding fresh food" stood at 100.1, also unchanged from the previous year. The "All Items index excluding food (excluding alcoholic beverages) and energy" stood at 99.3, down 0.3% from the previous year, following nine years of consecutive decline.
|
Consumer Price Index
|
By basic classification
In the sub-indices for the ten major groups, "Food"rose 0.3% from the previous year, due to a rise in "Fresh fruits", "Meat", and "Eating out", "Fuel, light & water charges" rose 0.8%, mainly due to a rise in "Gas", "Clothes & footwear" rose 0.6%, mainly due to a rise in "Shirts, sweaters & underwear", "Medical care" rose 0.3% due to a rise in "Medical services", "Transportation & communication" rose 0.1% mainly due to a rise in "Private transportation", "Education" rose 0.7% mainly due to a rise in "School fees", and "Miscellaneous" rose 0.8% mainly due to a rise in "Cigarettes".
On the other hand, "Housing" fell 0.2% due to a fall in "Rent", "Furniture & household utensils" fell 1.6% mainly due to a fall in "Household durables", and "Reading & recreation" fell 1.3% mainly due to a fall in "Recreational durables".
By goods and services classification
The goods index remained at the same level as the previous year. Substantial changes included increases in "Petroleum products" resulting from the oil price hike, "Fresh agricultural & aquatic products", and a decrease in "Durable goods".
Services index rose 0.1% mainly due to a rise in "Public services" resulting from a rise in "Services related to medical care & welfare" such as "Medical treatment".
The average monthly consumption expenditures per household were 261,526 yen, up 1.3% in nominal terms and 1.2% in real terms from the previous year, showing an increase after an interval of three years. The average monthly consumption expenditures of worker households increased by 1.7% in nominal terms and 1.6% in real terms.
The average monthly income per worker household was 480,074 yen, up 0.8% in nominal terms and 0.7% in real terms from the previous year. Among income categories, the regular incomes of household heads were at the same level in real terms, while temporary incomes and bonuses increased by 4.6% in real terms.
Among expenditures for goods and services, average spending on goods increased by 1.0% in real terms from the previous year. A further breakdown of expenditures reveals that spending on durable goods and semi-durable goods increased by 9.6% and 1.2% in real terms respectively, but spending on non-durable goods decreased by 0.2% in real terms. Spending on services increased by 2.0% in real terms.
Changes in Consumption Expenditures from the Previous year
|
Employment
According to the Labour Force Survey, the annual average number of employed persons for 2007 was 64.12 million, an increase of 300,000 from the previous year, for the fourth consecutive year. The number of employed persons among males increased by 230,000 from the previous year, for the third consecutive year. The number of employed persons among females increased by 70,000 from the previous year, for the fifth consecutive year.
With regard to the number of employed persons by main industries, "Medical, health care and welfare", "Eating and drinking places, accommodations" and "Manufacturing" increased from the previous year. However, "Wholesale and retail trade" was the same compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, declines were seen in "Construction" and "Services".
Unemployment
The number of unemployed persons was 2.57 million, a decrease of 180,000 from the previous year and the fifth consecutive year of decline. The annual average unemployment rate was 3.9%, a decrease of 0.2 points from the previous year, also marking the fifth consecutive year of decline.
Unemployed Persons and Unemployment Rate
|
