This is an English translation of the Japanese original released on January 8, 2016. From the 58th round of the survey, the boxed text summarizing each section has been omitted in the English translation.
January 18, 2016
Public Relations Department Bank of Japan
- Introduction
- Survey Outline
-
Summary
Economic Conditions
Household Circumstances
Price Levels
Future Land Prices
Growth Potential of the Japanese Economy
Cash Held by Households
Recognition and Credibility of the Bank
- Distribution of the Sample by Category
- Complete Questionnaire and Results
-
Introduction
The Bank of Japan, through public relations activities conducted at its Head Office and branches, has been seeking to determine the concerns of a broad cross-section of the general public relative to its policy and operations. An example of such action is the Bank's Opinion Survey on the General Public's Views and Behavior, conducted since 1993 with a nationwide sample of 4,000 individuals who are at least 20 years of age. This survey is essentially an opinion poll designed to gain insight into the public's perceptions and actions, and therefore differs in character from the Bank's Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan), which is conducted separately from this survey.
-
Survey Outline
Survey period
From November 6 to December 3, 2015.
Sample size
4,000 people (2,122 people [i.e., 53.1 percent of the overall sample size] provided valid responses to questions).
Population of the survey
Individuals living in Japan who are at least 20 years of age.
Sampling method
Stratified two-stage random sampling method.
Survey methodology
Questionnaire survey (mail survey method).
- Summary
Economic Conditions
Impression of economic conditions
Chart 1 Impression of Economic Conditions (Questions 1, 3, and 4)
Present Compared with One Year Ago
June 2015
11.9Sept. 15
12.4Dec. 15
9.060.4
59.6
64.3
27.3
27.6
26.3
(%)
Have improved Have remained the same Have worsened
One Year from Now Compared with the Present
June 2015
11.4Sept. 15
10.7Dec. 15
8.9 62.8 60.3 62.025.3
28.5
28.8
(%)
Will improve Will remain the same Will worsen
Developments in the Economic Conditions D.I.1,2,3,4,5
Percentage points
20
0
-20
-40
-60
-80
-100
Present compared with one year ago Outlook for one year from now
1996 9 7 9 8 9 9 2000 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5
Mar. 2013
June 13
Sept. 13
Dec. 13
Mar. 14
June 14
Sept. 14
Dec. 14
Mar. 15
June 15
Sept. 15
Dec. 15
Present compared with one year ago
-22.6
-4.8
-8.3
-9.2
-6.4
-10.0
-20.4
-32.9
-24.6
-15.4
-15.2
-17.3
Changes from the previous survey
+28.0
+17.8
-3.5
-0.9
+2.8
-3.6
-10.4
-12.5
+8.3
+9.2
+0.2
-2.1
Outlook for one year from now
6.8
7.5
-9.6
-14.0
-16.5
-15.3
-20.8
-30.5
-15.9
-13.9
-17.8
-19.9
Changes from the previous survey
+39.9
+0.7
-17.1
-4.4
-2.5
+1.2
-5.5
-9.7
+14.6
+2.0
-3.9
-2.1
Notes: 1. The current mail survey method was introduced with the survey conducted in September 2006, following its preliminary use for the survey conducted in June 2006. This differs from the previous "in-home" survey method, through which researchers visited sampled individuals, asked them to complete the questionnaire within a prescribed period, and then collected the finished questionnaires upon subsequent visits.
In the current survey, the economic conditions D.I. is calculated as the proportion of respondents who answered that economic conditions "have improved/will improve" minus the proportion of those who answered that they "have worsened/will worsen." Up until the survey conducted in June 2006, this was calculated as "improving/will improve" minus "worsening/will worsen."
The Opinion Survey was conducted annually through March 1998, semiannually from November 1998 to March 2004, and quarterly from June 2004 onward. The survey was not conducted in September 2005.
In the past surveys, the economic conditions D.I. for the present compared with one year ago registered a record high of 6.1 percentage points in March 2006, and a record low of minus 88.9 percentage points in March 2009. Also for the period prior to this survey, the economic conditions D.I. for the outlook for one year from now registered a record high of 7.5 percentage points in June 2013, and a record low of minus 58.3 percentage points in June 2008.
Shaded areas indicate recession periods.
Current Economic Conditions
Basis for the impression of economic conditions and perception of the interest rate level
June 2015
1.1Sept. 15
1.1Dec. 15
0.69.0
10.0
8.3
(%)
Favorable Somewhat favorable
Difficult to say Somewhat unfavorable Unfavorable
Chart 2 Basis for the Impression of Economic Conditions (Question 2)1
Income level for myself or other family members
Business performance of the company I work for,
or of my own company Bustle of shopping streets and amusement quarters
Media reports
Economic indicators and statistics
Other
5.5
4.9
4.5
9.1
9.4
9.4
22.0
22.0
26.1
20.7
20.2
June 2015
Sept. 15
Dec. 15
18.9
32.4
34.4
32.4
60.2
59.7
57.3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Note: 1. Up to two answers were allowed.
Bank of Japan issued this content on 2016-01-18 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 2016-01-18 05:15:10 UTC
Original Document: http://www.boj.or.jp/en/research/o_survey/ishiki1601.pdf
