FX.co ★ Japan Machinery Orders Drop More Than Expected in January

Japan's core machinery orders, which exclude those for ships and electric power companies, witnessed a significant decline of 3.5% month-on-month, reaching 857.9 billion yen in January 2025. This drop was notably sharper than the market's anticipated decline of 0.5%. The decrease represents a marked acceleration from the 0.8% dip observed in December and is the most pronounced decline since late 2023. Within the sectors, orders from manufacturers fell by 1.3% to 413 billion yen, and non-manufacturing orders saw a substantial decrease of 7.4%, down to 437.3 billion yen. The most substantial contractions were observed in sectors such as petroleum and coal products (-71.1%), pulp and paper products (-29.5%), goods leasing (-29.2%), transportation and postal activities (-28.6%), and information services (-24.3%). Annually, private-sector machinery orders increased by 4.4% in January, surpassing December’s 4.3% rise but falling short of the market's projection of a 6.9% increase.