Japan’s core machinery orders — which exclude volatile categories such as ships and electric utilities — rose 9.7% month-on-month to JPY 1.06 trillion in June 2026. This marked a sharp reversal from the 12.4% decline recorded in May and comfortably beat market expectations of a 7.8% increase. It was the third monthly rise so far this year and the fastest pace of growth since February, underscoring a broad-based recovery in business investment.
Orders from manufacturers rebounded 19.9% (after a 14.9% drop in May), while non-manufacturing orders also improved, rising 4.5% (compared with 9.3% previously). Within manufacturing, the strongest gains came from non-ferrous metals (225.3%), shipbuilding (94.9%), chemicals (39.0%), and petroleum and coal (32.9%). In the non-manufacturing sector, orders were particularly robust in real estate (253.1%), agriculture (33.0%), and mining and quarrying (23.7%).
On a year-on-year basis, core machinery orders increased 16.9%, swinging from a 1.9% decline in May and surpassing forecasts for a 10.8% rise. This represented the fastest annual growth in four months.
