708-Chaudhari Technical Institute, Gandhinagar - Gujarat ...

Japan's economic growth
It is a matter of pride for Japan that it houses one of the most educated,
skilled and healthy human populations in the world. Boasting the highest life
expectancy in the world, the country successfully offset the disadvantages of
having limited natural resources and arable land. While the unparalleled
economic recovery of Japan after World War II was propelled by the
manufacturing sector, primarily by the automobile and the consumer
electronics industry, the economy progressively became more broad-based,
shifting to a services-centered economy.
Exports have always been one of the critical drivers of the Japanese
economy. Not surprisingly, this robust trade performance enabled Japan to
have the second largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, after
China. However, Japan's external demand is still driven by manufacturing, as
over 65% of its exports are comprised of transport equipment, electrical
machinery, and general machinery.
Japan also emerged as a global financial center, with the Tokyo Stock
Exchange becoming one of the most important stock exchanges in the world.
A global leader in innovation and quality, Japan has made ground-breaking
contributions in automotive technology and design.
Japan's economic growth took a dive because of the natural disasters, but
2012 will clearly be a bounce-back year, fueled by rebuilding as well as the
general economic strength of the areas not directly affected by the earthquake
and tsunami. In subsequent years, growth is likely to taper down to Japan's
sustainable long-term growth rate of just over one percent. The IMF forecast,
which is typical of many private sector outlooks, reflects this. However, there's
significant uncertainty surrounding this view of the future.
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