Evaluation of Japan's GDP, Export and Import Performance, and Exchange Rate Performance

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Research Essay
In this paper, we will consider the economy of Japan in an evaluation of its GDP performance,
Export and Import performance as well as exchange rate performance in order to understand
some of the key factors that have affected this performance over a period of 15 years fro 1991 to
2016.
Data retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/
It is clear that there has been a steady increase in the Export GDP ratio over the years. However,
the export GDP ratio increased at a fast rate between 2000 and 2006 before it hit a plateau and
declined in 2009. The decline in 2009 can be attributed to the financial crisis that occurred in the
world. This meant that some of the countries which exported materials from Japan reduced their
export quantities as a result of the crisis. Reduction in the export value could also be a result of
the decline in the exchange rates of most countries during this period. However, after the

financial crisis, the exports again began to pick up and have been volatile as a result of the
normal trade agreements between Japan and other countries (Lockwood, 2015).
Data retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/
This ratio is the rate of trade growth against GDP growth. From the graph, it is clear to see that in
the period between 2005 and 2009, there was a highly volatile rate of trade growth. One factor
that led to this scenario is the financial crisis. The financial crisis led to a decline in trade
between countries hence reducing the amount of exports experienced. Other than that the
performance seems to be quite steady over the period. In addition, there is a positive correlation
between the exports and the GDP level in Japan, this is because the exports contribute
significantly to the GDP of the economy.