Japan relies on China, other single import partners for 40% of goods

The ratio is far above U.S. or G7 as the nation lags in diversification

Containers sit at a port in the Japanese city of Fukuoka. China provides the majority of Japanese imports for many types of consumer and industrial goods. (Photo by Shinya Sawai)

ANNA NISHINO, Nikkei staff writer

July 10, 2024 01:19 JST

TOKYO -- Japan depends heavily on a single country, often China, for imports of many more types of consumer and industrial products than do Tokyo's Group of Seven peers, a government white paper shows.

The report released Tuesday analyzed 2022 trade data on around 4,300 items imported by Japan, the U.S. and Germany, as well as the G7 overall. It applied the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a measure of market concentration in which a reading above 50 for a given product means one specific country accounts for more than half of imports.