Overview

Japan’s ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 infections has declined and reached a steady plateau of around 500-600 new confirmed cases each day indicating ongoing community transmission (see chart below)
Despite the ongoing low level of community transmission, Japan has not resorted to lockdowns and has instead relied mainly on voluntary adherence to mask wearing and social distancing measures. The death rate from COVID-19 remains low at 13 per million population compared to 600-700 per million in some parts of Europe and North America
Following three consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, the Japanese economy started to pick up in the July-Sept quarter (Q3). Full GDP figures for the quarter are not yet available but in August the economy grew by 0.6% in real terms due to external demand lifting exports by 5.4%
New Zealand’s goods exports to Japan in Q3 (July-Sept) were nearly 11 percent down on the same period last year, although year to date (YTD) Jan-Sept 2020 goods exports are still up 3.5% on the same period last year due to high volumes of horticulture exports in Q2 (see charts below)
New Prime Minister Suga announced on 26 October that Japan is committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 which promises to stimulate more investment in ‘green’ technology and may create opportunities for New Zealand leveraging our clean green image and renewable energy capability.
This monthly report also includes an introduction to potential opportunities for New Zealand companies in the agri-tech sector in Japan.

For full details of the report, click here.