Information Releases

April. 2023

Economic Trends Research, April 2023

Economy improves for second straight month as movement to leave COVID behind accelerates
— Consumer spending has been buoyed by increased shopper turnout, leading to improvements by industry, by scale, and by region —

Trend in April 2023: Continued improvement

The economic diffusion index (DI) in April 2023 was 44.6, up 0.7 point from the previous month, for a second straight month of improvement. In spite of adverse factors such as labor shortages and price increases, the domestic economy has improved broadly, centered around demand related to consumer spending.

Future outlook: Trending upward gradually but lacking in vigor

Although trending upward gradually, the economy is presently weighed down by labor shortages and price increases, and it still lacks the vigor that would boost it further.

Primary points of survey results(summary)

1. 1 By industry: The virtuous circle created by increased shopper turnout has had a broad-ranging ripple effect, and improvements were observed in all 10 industries for the second straight month.
2. 2 By size: Companies of all sizes showed an improvement for the second straight month as the movement toward leaving COVID behind accelerates.
3. 3 By region: All 10 regions reported a second straight month of improvement, with Kyushu accounting for the top 4 prefectures nationwide.

Economic Trends Research, April 2023