Japan
- GDP nominal: 4,601 billion USD
- Unemployment rate: 3.7%
- Population: 127 million
- Ease-of-doing-business rank: 34th
The economy of Japan is the 3rd largest in the world by nominal GDP, the 4th largest by purchasing power parity and is the world's 2nd largest developed economy.
Japan has the largest electronics goods industry and is often ranked among the world's most innovative countries. Japan is a developed country with a high standard of living and Human Development Index whose population enjoys the highest life expectancy. The population of 127 million is the world's 10th largest. Japan is ranked 1st in the Country Brand Index.
As of 2010, Japan possesses 13.7% of the world's private financial assets (the 2nd largest in the world) at an estimated 1460 billion. As of 2013, 62 of the Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Japan.
Direct Selling in Japan
- GDP Growth Constant USD in 2014: -0.1%
- YoY Industry Growth Constant USD 2014: 1.7%
Japan is the 3rd largest Direct Selling market in the world after the U.S. and China and the 2nd largest market in Asia representing 16.7 billion USD (2014). Japan has approximately 3.3 million people involved in Direct Selling (2014) and 4 out of 5 distributors are female.
Cosmetic and Wellness categories account for approximately 60% of products sold. Japan has clear regulations for Direct Selling, the Japan Direct Selling Association (JDSA) was founded in 1980 with the support of local and international Direct Selling companies in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
The Japan market is composed of large and smaller corporations from both well-established local and international companies.
As a mature market, the Japanese Direct Selling industry is not growing as fast as developing countries such as China or Indonesia, still Japan remains a very attractive market for international Direct Selling companies. The last few years have seen an increasing number of Japanese companies expanding throughout the Asia Pacific region, the business benefiting from the excellent image of Japanese product quality.
Sources: ASENSHIA, World Bank, WFDSA, Euromonitor, Wikipedia
