Japan Machinery Orders Post Steep Decline in April

Japan’s core machinery orders—excluding volatile items such as ships and electric power—fell 9.1% month-over-month to ¥919 billion in April 2025, marking a sharp reversal from March’s 13% surge.

This was the weakest reading since April 2020, during the height of the Covid pandemic.

The non-manufacturing sector led the decline, with orders plunging 11.8% to ¥470.8 billion.

Manufacturing orders also slipped, down 0.6% to ¥456.6 billion.

The steepest drops came from other transport equipment (-38.3%), goods leasing (-31.2%), other non-manufacturing (-29.5%), finance and insurance (-23.9%), and automobiles, parts & accessories (-20.3%).

On an annual basis, private-sector machinery orders rose 6.6% in April, easing from March’s 8.4% gain but exceeding market expectations of 4%.

Core machinery orders are considered a volatile but key leading indicator of capital spending over the next six to nine months.