News Bulletin January 28, 2026
January 28, 2026
No.375
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Results of the Survey of Research and Development were released
The SBJ released the latest results of the Survey of Research and Development on December 12, 2025.
- R&D Expenditures
- Japan's total expenditures on science and technology research (hereinafter referred to as "R&D expenditures") during fiscal year (FY) 2024 stood at 23.79 trillion yen (up by 7.9% from the previous fiscal year). It has increased for four consecutive years, the highest ever.
- As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), R&D expenditures accounted for 3.70%, a 0.14-point increase from the last fiscal year. - R&D Personnel
- As of March 31, 2025, the total number of researchers was 912,800 (up by 0.6% from the previous fiscal year). It has increased for the first time in two years, making the highest ever.
- R&D expenditures per researcher was 26.07 million yen (up by 7.3% from the previous fiscal year). It has increased for four consecutive years, the highest ever.
- The number of female researchers (head-count) was 190,400 (up by 4.2% from the previous fiscal year), and has increased for the first time in two years, accounting for 19.0% (a 0.5-point increase from the last fiscal year) of researcher the highest ever.
Website: https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kagaku/index.html
The Results on Income and Expenditure from the 2024 National Survey of Family Income, Consumption and Wealth
The SBJ conducts the National Survey of Family Income, Consumption and Wealth every five years with the aim of comprehensively grasping the state of consumption, income, assets, and liabilities of households, clarifying household income distribution and consumption level and structure, and other matters nationally and by region.
Among the results of the survey conducted in 2024, results regarding income and expenditure were released on December 19, 2025.
- Overview
- Compared to the 2019 results, the proportion of expenditure increased for items such as "Food (excluding meals outside the home)," "Furniture & household utensils," and "Fuel, light, & water charges."
- Households with heads aged 50 to 59 have the highest level of "Consumption expenditures," and among all age groups, the ratio of "Education" is largest at 7.1%.
- In terms of consumption expenditures by Yearly Income Quintile Groups*, consumption expenditures of Groups V in workers' households are 2.4 times higher than those of Groups I.
* "Yearly Income Quintile Groups" means the five equally divided groups in terms of the number of households, after arranging them in order of the yearly income (They are referred to as Groups I, II, III, IV and V, with Group I being the lowest yearly income group.)
- Among one-person households, the ratio of "Food" expenditure in consumption expenditures for males was the highest of all age groups. For females, the ratio of "Housing" was highest for the age group of under 40 and "Food" was highest for other age groups.
- Among elderly no-occupation one-person households, disposable income was lower than consumption expenditures for the age group of 65 to 74. For the age group of 75 and above, disposable income exceeded consumption expenditures.
- In terms of consumption expenditures by type of purchase, the ratio of "Credit card, electronic money, etc. (post pay)" increased from 22.5% to 32.3% compared to the results of 2019.
- Among consumption expenditures at over-the-counter sales, the ratio of "Credit card, electronic money, etc." reached approximately 50% across all types of purchase places.
The results regarding income, assets and liabilities, and other related results will be released in sequence going forward.
Website: https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/zenkokukakei/index.html
MAJOR INDICATORS
See the links below for the latest results.
- 1. Labour Force Survey
https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/stat-search/database?page=1&toukei=00200531&kikan=00200&tstat=000000110001
- 2. Consumer Price Index
https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/stat-search/files?page=1&toukei=00200573&kikan=00200&tstat=000001150147 - 3. Family Income and Expenditure Survey
https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/stat-search/files?page=1&toukei=00200561&kikan=00200&tstat=000000330001 - 4. Monthly Business Survey of Services
https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/stat-search/files?page=1&toukei=00200546&tstat=000001217540 - 5. Population Estimates
https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/stat-search/files?page=1&toukei=00200524&kikan=00200&tstat=000000090001 - 6. Report on Internal Migration in Japan
https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/stat-search/files?page=1&toukei=00200523&kikan=00200&tstat=000000070001
is "Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan" (external site) where you can browse statistics tables and database.
