Updated as of October 2005

Exports Surge Payrolls Drop.

Japan's chemical industry shipped products worth \23.3 trillion in 2003, a slight increase of about 2.5 percent from 22.7 trillion yen in 2002.

In terms of value added, the chemical industry ranked No. 5 among all Japanese industries. Total value added stood at approximately 11 trillion yen as of 2002.

The number of employees working in the chemical industry was 345,000 in 2003. That number represented a decrease of about 2.5 percent from 354,000 in 2002. During the previous 4 years, the number of employees decreased by 7 percent.

There are two categories of manufacturers by type of product in the chemical industry, raw material manufacturers and processing manufacturers. In 2002, 43 percent of total chemical industry shipments were in the raw material sector and 57 percent were in the processing sector.

Japan's total export of chemical products in 2004 amounted to 5.2 trillion yen, up 37 percent from 3.8 trillion yen in 2000. Japan's total import of chemical products in the same year was 3.8 trillion yen, up 35 percent from 2.9 trillion yen in 2000.

(Source: Census of Manufacturers Research and Statistics Department, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)