2026.06.1204:40:51UTC+00Japan Industrial Output Growth Revised Lower

Japan’s industrial production rose 0.5% month-over-month in April 2026, below the preliminary estimate of 0.8% but rebounding from a 0.4% decline in March. This marked the first increase since January, supported by resilient external demand and a recovery in domestic manufacturing activity, even as escalating tensions in the Middle East continued to threaten supply chains and raise energy costs.

By category, output increased for general-purpose and business-oriented machinery (4.4% vs -5.3% in March), electrical machinery, and information and communication electronics equipment (2.7% vs 0.9%), as well as other manufacturing (1.6% vs -1.7%). In contrast, production declined for motor vehicles (-2.4% vs 0.0%), inorganic and organic chemicals (-1.8% vs -8.6%), and chemicals excluding inorganic and organic chemicals (-0.3% vs 2.0%).

On a year-on-year basis, industrial output increased 2.0% in April, following a 2.4% gain in March and extending the expansion to a fifth consecutive month.