The Cabinet Office announced that Japan's nominal GDP for 2023 will be 591.482 trillion yen, or 4.2106 trillion US dollars when converted into US dollars, and it will be overtaken by Germany (4.4561 trillion US dollars) for the first time in about half a century, falling from third to fourth place in the world.
Nominal GDP reached an all-time high on the basis of the yen, but due to the depreciation of the yen, it decreased in dollar terms. In Germany, due to the sharp rise in international energy prices, prices have risen, inflation has increased, and nominal GDP has increased significantly.
Japan's GDP surpassed that of the former West Germany in 1968, a period of rapid economic growth, and for a long time it ranked second in the world after the United States, but in 2010 it was surpassed by the mainland, and now it has fallen directly into the top three in the world.
However, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the changes in nominal GDP rankings are mainly due to changes in exchange rates, and that Japan's economy is actually larger when considering the price level.
Minister in charge of economic revitalization said that a country's international status is made up of many fields, such as diplomacy and culture, so there is no need to worry too much about the temporary decline in Japan's GDP.
According to the forecasts of Japanese private economists, the Japanese economy will return to positive growth in the spring of 2024, and the average GDP in the April~June period is expected to increase by 1.8%. Overseas investors are also very optimistic about the Japanese economy, most notably the continued surge in the Japanese stock market.
On February 15, the Nikkei Stock Average (225 items) closed at 38,157 yen and 94 cents, the highest price in about 34 years since January 1990, when the bubble economy occurred.
The Nikkei 225 index briefly broke through 38,865 yen on the 16th, and it was only 33,000 yen at the beginning of this year, rising 5,000 yen in a month and a half, and it is close to the all-time high (38,915.87 yen) set at the end of December 1989.
Experts say the perception that the yen's depreciation will boost the performance of exporters has contributed to the surge in Japanese stock prices.
Affected by the larger-than-expected price growth in the United States, the postponement of the Fed's interest rate cut period, and the Bank of Japan's continued accommodative monetary policy, the yen exchange rate fell to about 1 US dollar = 150 yen for the first time in three months, and also fell below 4.8 against the yuan.
According to the forecast of the Continental Tourism Research Institute, the number of outbound tourists from the mainland will reach 130 million in 2024, and Japan ranks second in the ranking of intended tourist destinations, second only to Hong Kong.
Tsuyoshi Kondo, a Japanese tourism entry expert, said that due to the effect of the Spring Festival holiday, the mainland's tourists to Japan in February are expected to reach about 400,000~500,000.
In order to welcome more tourists, Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced that it will resume operations on March 31 on flights connecting Chubu Centrair International Airport (Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture) and Shanghai Pudong, with five round-trips per week for the first time in about four years.
The Kagawa Prefecture-Takamatsu-Shanghai flight, which had been suspended since October last year, has been reopened three times a week since April 2 this year, and has been increasing to four times a week since June 23.
Okayama Prefecture announced that the Okayama-Shanghai Line, which currently operates three times a week, will be increased to five flights per week from May 9, with one service each on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
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