Japan data
Economy Politics Society
With Germany overtaking Japan in the global GDP rankings, a survey found that 70.8% of Japanese youth express concern about the future.
The International Monetary Fund published its forecasts for the world economy in October 2023, predicting that it is very likely that Japan's nominal GDP based on the US dollar will fall below that of Germany, placing it in fourth place globally. This sparked a lot of pessimistic comments in Japan in newspapers and social media, as people recalled their previous lagging behind China and bemoaned the country's financial distress.
The Nippon Foundation, which regularly conducts surveys to gauge young people's opinions, this time asked respondents whether they were aware that Japan's nominal GDP was expected to fall to fourth place, and found that almost one in four knew, at 26.4%. More than double the percentage of young men who identified as young women, 34.8%, compared to 17.5%.
Due to the drop to fourth place globally, participants were asked if they were worried about the future, and 70.8% responded that they were either “worried” or “a little worried” about Japan’s future. When it came to their future, 62.9% felt a similar type of anxiety.
Nearly 70% of all respondents felt that Japan's nominal GDP rating “will decline” or is “likely to decline” in the future. Young men proved to be more pessimistic, as the percentage responding to the rating “It will decrease” was 11.3 points higher than the percentage of young women.
The survey, conducted online from 1 to 4 December 2023, targeted 1,000 young people aged 17 to 19 years. Participants were approximately evenly distributed by age group and gender ratio.
(Translation from Japanese, translation from English, title image by Pixta)
GDP of the economy
