Japan machinery orders drop for third straight month

Japan's core machinery orders, which exclude those for ships and electric power companies, fell by 0.7% month-on-month to 852 billion yen in September 2024, marking a third consecutive month in the negative and missing market expectations for a 1.9% increase.

Japan machinery orders drop for third straight month

Orders in the manufacturing sector dipped slightly to 388.3 billion yen, while the non-manufacturing sector saw a modest rise of 1.5%, reaching 453.7 billion yen. The sectors facing the steepest declines included pulp, paper, and paper products (-32.8%), information services (-25.7%), chemicals and chemical products (-18%), food and beverages (-15.5%), and electrical machinery (-15.4%).

Annual figures

On an annual basis, private-sector machinery orders dropped by 4.8% in September, deepening from a 3.4% decline in August and falling short of expectations for a 2.2% increase.