Category: Japan

Meeting Japan’s intertwined challenges of population ageing and high government debt

April 15, 2019

By Randall Jones and Haruki Seitani, Japan Desk, OECD Economics Department With faster growth in the past six years, Japan’s real GDP growth in per capita terms has converged toward the OECD average and job creation has been strong. However, labour productivity and per capita income are well below leading OECD economies (Figure 1), while … More Meeting Japan’s intertwined challenges of population ageing and high government debt

Japan needs policies to boost productivity for inclusive growth

April 25, 2017

by Randall Jones, Head of Japan Desk, OECD Economics Department Labour productivity in Japan is about a quarter below the average of the top half of OECD countries (Figure 1), which is surprising given Japan’s outstanding performance in education and skills and high level of R&D spending. As in other countries, the labour productivity gap … More Japan needs policies to boost productivity for inclusive growth