Japan's economy as the third largest one in the world is vulnerable to global market jitters, so it has gone through difficult times in the past few years. The coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the situation.
Notably, even before the coronavirus outbreak, Japan's industrial output was demonstrating weak performance. Nevertheless, after the outbreak, it has dropped the most since the March 2011 earthquake. According to statistics, at the end of May, the industrial production in the country fell by 8.4% compared to the previous month. It totaled 79.1% of the level set in 2015. At the same time, the number of unemployed spiked by 330,000 in May compared to April having approached the level of 2 million people. Apparently, the Japanese government is facing one of the most severe economic crisis. Exports as the main engine of economic growth have been declining for several months in a row, and weak domestic demand is affecting industrial production.
In early June, the Japanese authorities unveiled an economic outlook where they stated that the country's GDP might shed 2.2% by the end of 2020. In the first quarter, Japan's GDP contracted by 0.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
