Explanation:Business Outlook Survey
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.
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.
Survey method
This survey is based on self-reporting questionnaires by mail or online from respondent companies.
Timing of the survey, survey frequency, and the time of publication
Timing of the survey:The 15th day of May, August, November, and February.
Survey frequency: Quarterly
| Reference Terms | The time of publication |
|---|---|
| April-June | around June 12th |
| July-September | around September 12th |
| October-December | around December 10th |
| January-March | around March 11th |
Items of the survey
Items of the survey are qualitative survey items like business conditions, quantitative survey items like sales and investments.
| 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". |
| Production and sales facilities utilization | Choose one from "Insufficient/Rightness/Excessive/Unknown". |
| Number of employees | Choose one from "Insufficient/Rightness/Excessive/Unknown". |
| Sales | The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Forecast" |
|---|---|
| Current profit | The value of "Actual/Preliminary/Forecast" |
| Dividend income | 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.
| Rising | 40.0% |
|---|---|
| Unchanged | 25.0% |
| Falling | 30.0% |
| Unknown | 5.0% |
BSI=40(rising)-30(falling)=10
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
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 |
*The industry classification was revised from the April - June survey 2009.