Overseas Economic and Geopolitical Risks and More Cautious Consumer Spending

「The outlook for the economic environment remains uncertain due to the effects of higher resource prices resulting from rising geopolitical risks, including those related to the Middle East, the continuing depreciation of the yen, and fluctuations in capital markets.」

「Global economic uncertainty has increased further as geopolitical risks rise with growing tensions in the Middle East. The domestic economy faces the risk of a downturn in domestic demand as corporate earnings slow because of deteriorating terms of trade and consumer sentiment weakens through lower real wages.」

「Uncertainty in the global economy has increased further as geopolitical risks have risen due to heightened tensions in the Middle East」

「The economic environment remains challenging, with continued uncertainty about developments in U.S. tariff measures.」

「The outlook for the impact of U.S. trade policy on the domestic economy is difficult to predict, and geopolitical risks are also a factor, so the domestic economy is expected to remain uncertain. Under these difficult-to-forecast economic conditions, concerns about further price increases remain, and the continued weakness of consumer sentiment carries the risk of a downturn in domestic demand.」

「During the interim accounting period, the domestic economy generally continued to recover gradually, although some areas showed signs of stalling. However, in addition to increases in labor and logistics costs, labor shortages became more severe, making the operating environment increasingly challenging, particularly for small and medium-sized companies.」

「Corporate earnings generally continued to improve, and in the consumer sector, demand for travel-related services and high-end goods remained firm, supported by stronger inbound demand and the boost to personal consumption from rising share prices. At the same time, labor shortages became increasingly pronounced, particularly in the services sector.」

「During the cumulative first six months of the fiscal year, the domestic economy benefited from the lifting of entry restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and stronger inbound demand, with tourism, dining and other industries beginning to recover, while labor shortages became more pronounced. As the yen weakened, export-related industries expanded their earnings, but consumer prices continued to rise, the sense of an economic recovery remained weak, and consumers became increasingly selective in their spending.」

「During the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the domestic economy showed a gradual recovery as measures to address COVID-19 were eased, and corporate earnings also generally began to improve. Consumer sentiment recovered, and the food-service and travel-related industries, which had languished during the pandemic, grew. At the same time, successive price increases, including for food products, made consumers' purchasing behavior increasingly selective.」

「The domestic economy is expected to recover, including inbound demand, as various restrictions are lifted with the subsiding of COVID-19. However, uncertainty is expected to persist because of elevated prices resulting from the prolonged trend of yen depreciation and the impact of geopolitical risks.」

「Meanwhile, consumer prices continued to rise because of higher raw material costs stemming from the prolonged tensions surrounding Ukraine and the weaker yen. As consumer sentiment generally weakened, consumers became even more selective in their purchasing behavior. Disparities in business conditions between companies also widened, and labor shortages became more pronounced in some industries.」

「During the cumulative first six months of the fiscal year, the domestic economy remained extremely unstable as the prolonged tensions surrounding Ukraine, the sharp depreciation of the yen and other factors caused imported raw material prices to soar and supply restrictions to emerge, driving up prices for various goods and services, while the seventh wave of COVID-19 infections also raged.」

「Prices of various goods and services rose because of soaring imported raw material prices and supply restrictions caused by the sharp depreciation of the yen and the prolonged situation in Ukraine, strengthening consumers’ tendency to be selective in their purchases.」

「The outlook became increasingly uncertain because the global impact of recent foreign exchange market volatility and the situation in Ukraine was difficult to predict, while concerns also arose about soaring prices for various raw materials and supply constraints.」

「The difficult conditions gradually eased as declarations of a state of emergency and other measures related to COVID-19 were lifted. Consumer sentiment also began to recover, and signs of a recovery emerged in the performance of brick-and-mortar stores as well as online retailers. However, labor shortages intensified toward year-end in some sectors, while higher procurement prices, including for imported raw materials, and the spread of COVID-19 variants created an uncertain outlook.」

「During the first quarter, differences in performance between industries became increasingly pronounced against the backdrop of the continuing impact of COVID-19.」

「During the fiscal year, the domestic economy generally remained weak because of the impact of COVID-19. Lifestyle patterns changed dramatically as people refrained from going out following the issuance of 2 states of emergency, and disparities in corporate earnings between industries became pronounced. In consumer behavior, demand for online shopping and delivery services grew amid so-called “stay-at-home demand,” while the travel and tourism industries and dine-in and brick-and-mortar retail businesses faced extremely challenging conditions.」

「During the cumulative first nine months of the fiscal year, the Japanese economy remained in challenging conditions as the impact of COVID-19 continued for an extended period.」

「During the first quarter, the domestic economy deteriorated rapidly because of the impact of COVID-19, resulting in extremely challenging conditions.」

「During the fiscal year, the domestic economy deteriorated sharply because of the global economic slowdown stemming from trade and geopolitical issues, in addition to the impact of the spread of COVID-19.」

「During the cumulative first nine months of the fiscal year, the global economy showed increasing signs of slowing against the backdrop of trade and geopolitical issues, while concerns arose that domestic economic conditions would deteriorate, particularly in manufacturing, including exports.」

「During the cumulative first six months of the fiscal year, the domestic economy remained weak, particularly in exports, because of developments in overseas economies related to trade issues and geopolitical problems. Corporate earnings remained generally high, but views of the outlook became more cautious.」

「However, uncertainty continued to surround political and economic conditions in Japan and overseas, and concerns also arose about the impact of the consumption tax increase scheduled for October 2019 on personal consumption, leading to increasingly cautious views of the outlook.」

「At the same time, concerns about the impact of global political and economic developments on the domestic economy and the associated uncertainty increased, adding to uncertainty about the outlook.」

「During the cumulative first six months of the fiscal year, the domestic economy continued to recover gradually against the backdrop of steady improvement in corporate earnings and employment and income conditions. At the same time, concerns arose about the impact and uncertainty of developments in global trade issues on the economy.」

「During the first quarter, the domestic economy generally continued to recover gradually against the backdrop of continued improvement in corporate earnings, although concerns arose about the potential impact of global trade issues.」

「During the cumulative first nine months of the fiscal year, the domestic economy maintained a gradual recovery path despite continued uncertainty, as corporate earnings and employment conditions continued to improve.」

「Meanwhile, the outlook is expected to remain uncertain as political conditions in Japan and overseas become increasingly confused.」

「During the first quarter, the domestic economy remained on a moderate recovery trend, with improvements in corporate earnings and employment conditions despite concerns including the worsening labor shortage and uncertain conditions overseas.」

「During the fiscal year, the domestic economy generally remained on a gradual recovery path, although improvement was delayed in some areas, and corporate earnings generally continued to improve. However, equity and foreign exchange markets remained unstable because of various domestic and overseas factors, including damage from the Kumamoto Earthquake and developments overseas, leaving the economy generally lacking strength.」

「During the third quarter, the domestic economy remained on a broadly gradual recovery path, despite volatility risks arising from developments in China and emerging-market economies and the impact of the U.S. presidential election, as corporate earnings and employment conditions continued to improve.」

「During the second quarter, the domestic economy showed a gradual recovery against the backdrop of improving corporate earnings and employment conditions, but generally lacked strength. Concerns about an economic slowdown in China and other emerging Asian economies also persisted, leaving the outlook uncertain. The retail industry generally remained in a challenging environment because of sluggish apparel sales and slowing inbound demand. Conditions weakened recently, as consumer sentiment remained subdued and unseasonable summer weather weighed on consumption.」

「During the first quarter, the domestic economy remained in an uncertain environment, with corporate earnings and consumer sentiment showing signs of stalling against the backdrop of unstable share prices and foreign exchange markets affected by turmoil overseas. The retail industry also entered an increasingly challenging environment overall because of slowing inbound demand and sluggish personal consumption.」

「Equity and foreign exchange markets became unstable amid geopolitical risks overseas and economic concerns in emerging markets, including China. Personal consumption, which had remained relatively resilient, also began to stall because of concerns about the outlook and slowing real income growth.」