Explanation of Business Outlook Survey

1. Purpose of the survey
   
       This survey analyzes business leaders' assessments of and forecasts for the economy in order to gain basic information for keeping track of economic trends.
   
   
2. Survey area
   
       This survey covers about 15,000 companies that have established their headquarters or principal offices in Japan and have capital stock of 10 million yen or more.
   
   
3. Survey method
   
       This survey is based on self-reporting questionnaires by mail or online from respondent companies.
   
   
4. Timing of the survey, survey frequency, and the time of publication
   
       Timing of the survey: The 25th day of May, August, November, and February.
   
       Survey frequency: Quarterly
   
       The time of publication:

   Reference Terms The time of publication April-June the end of June July-September the end of September October-December the end of December January-March the end of March

   
   
5. Items of the survey
   
       Items of the survey are qualitative survey items like business conditions, quantitative survey items like sales and investments.
   
   

   Qualitative survey items	Business conditions	Choose one from "Rising/Unchanged/Falling/Unknown".
   	Reasons for decision in business conditions	Choose the top three answers.
   	General domestic economic conditions	Choose one from "Rising/Unchanged/Falling/Unknown".
   	Sales	Choose one from "Increase/Unchanged/Decrease/Unknown".
   	Current profit	Choose one from "Better/Unchanged/Worse/Unknown".
   	Domestic demand	Choose one from "Increase/Unchanged/Decrease/Unknown".
   	Overseas demand	Choose one from "Increase/Unchanged/Decrease/Unknown".
   	Sales price of products and services	Choose one from "Rising/Unchanged/Falling/Unknown".
   	Purchasing price of input materials and products	Choose one from "Rising/Unchanged/Falling/Unknown".
   	Inventory level of products or commodities for sales	Choose one from "Insufficient/Rightness/Excessive/Unknown".
   	Inventory level of input materials	Choose one from "Insufficient/Rightness/Excessive/Unknown".
   	Financial position	Choose one from "Better/Unchanged/Worse/Unknown".
   	Attitude of financial institutions in financing	Choose one from "Easier/Unchanged/More difficult/Unknown".
   	Production and sales facilities utilization	Choose one from "Insufficient/Rightness/Excessive/Unknown".
   	Number of employees	Choose one from "Insufficient/Rightness/Excessive/Unknown".
   	Number of temporary employees and part-timers	Choose one from "Increase/Unchanged/Decrease/Unknown".
   	Measures for profit improvement	Choose the top three answers.
   Quantitative survey items	Sales	The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Forecast"
   	Current profit	The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Forecast"
   	The amount of newly reported investment	The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Plan"
   	Land	The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Plan"
   	Software	The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Plan"

   
       note: BSI (Business Survey Index) is the percentage of companies saying that domestic economic conditions are rising compared with the previous quarter, minus the percentage of companies saying that domestic economic conditions are declining compared with the previous quarter.
   
       e.g. In that case "business condition"
         Rising 40.0%
         Unchanged 25.0%
         Falling 30.0%
         Unknown 5.0%
      BSI = 40 (rising) - 30 (falling) = 10
   
   
6. The method of calculation for the estimate
   
       The questionnaires are classified by industry type and capital class, and then they are expanded to population.
   
       The estimate
       = The total value of each item that responded to the questions in the survey
       / The number of enterprises that responded to the questions in the survey
       * The number of population enterprises
   
      However, a stratum is based on probability proportionate sampling,
   
       The estimate
       = The total value of the ratio of each item to the capital that responded to the questions in the survey
       / The number of enterprises that responded to the questions in the survey
       * The total amount of capital of population enterprises
   
   
7. Types of Industry
   
       These 37 types are built based on the Japanese Standard Industrial Classification. (Revised November 2007)
   
   

   Manufacturing	Food and Beverages
   	Textiles
   	Lumber and Wood Products
   	Pulp and Paper
   	Chemicals
   	Petroleum and Coal Products
   	Ceramics, Stone and Clay
   	Iron and Steel
   	Nonferrous Metals
   	Processed Metals
   	General-purpose machinery
   	Production machinery
   	Bussiness oriented machinery
   	Electrical Machinery
   	Information and Communication Machinery
   	Motor Vehicles and its Accessories
   	Other Transportation Machinery
   	Other Manufacturing
   Non-manufacturing	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
   	Mining and Quarrying of stone and gravel
   	Construction
   	Electric, Gas, and Water Utilities
   	Information Communication
   	Transport and Postal activities
   	Wholesaling
   	Retailing
   	Real Estate
   	Leasing
   	Other goods rental
   	Accommodations, Eating and Drinking services
   	Services for Personals
   	Recreational Activities
   	Scientific research, professional and technical services
   	Medical / Education
   	Employment and worker dispatching services
   	Other Services
   	Finance and Insurance

   For further details

Please contact the Department of Business Statistics, Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office.