Japan’s industrial production fell 2.4% month-on-month in August 2026, a sharper decline than the preliminary estimate of -1.7% and July’s 0.2% drop. This marked a second consecutive monthly contraction and the steepest decline since January, underscoring weaker activity across key manufacturing industries amid soft export demand.
Output decreased notably in motor vehicles (-6.8% vs +0.8% in July), general-purpose and business-oriented machinery (-6.3% vs +1.9%), and petroleum and coal products (-13.3% vs +8.6%). By contrast, production increased in production machinery (+5.9% vs +5.1%) and in transport equipment excluding motor vehicles (+2.5% vs -4.0%).
On a year-on-year basis, industrial production rose 2.7% in August, slowing from 3.9% in July but still posting a third consecutive month of annual growth.
