Japan Machinery Orders Rebound Sharply

Japan’s core machinery orders, which exclude volatile sectors such as ships and electric power, rose by 8.7% month-on-month to JPY 1,098.5 billion in April 2026, far exceeded market expectations for a 0.9% gain and marked a sharp rebound from the 9.4% decline recorded in March. The recovery was driven by a 5.1% increase in manufacturing orders to JPY 513.5 billion and a 6.7% rise in non-manufacturing orders excluding utilities to JPY 570.1 billion. Among manufacturers, strong gains were recorded in ship building (+160.7%), textile mill products (+61.7%), and non-ferrous metals (+51.3%). In the non-manufacturing sector, real estate (+107.7%), transportation and postal activities (+36.9%), and goods leasing (+32.7%) posted notable increases. On an annual basis, core machinery orders grew by 15.6%, beating market forecasts for a 9.3% gain and accelerating from a seven-month low of 5.9% rise in the preceding period.

Japan’s core machinery orders, which exclude volatile sectors such as ships and electric power, dropped 9.4% mom to JPY 1,010.9 billion in March 2026, reversing sharply from a 13.6% rise in the prior month and worse than market expectations for an 8.1% decline. It was the steepest decline in machinery orders since last November. Manufacturing orders shrank 14.2% to JPY 488.4 billion, due to weakness across most key industries, including non-ferrous metals (-88.0%), shipbuilding (-51.2%), other transport equipment (-31.2%), textile mill products (-30.2%), petroleum and coal products (-29.6%), and chemical products (-27.9%). Meanwhile, non-manufacturing orders fell 6.0% to JPY 534.3 billion, reversing a 0.8% rise in February. For Q1, machinery orders grew 6.4%. On an annual basis, core machinery orders rose 5.9%, easing sharply from a 24.7% surge previously, marking the softest growth since last November, when machinery orders fell by 6.4%, though the reading beat forecasts of 4.5%.

Japan’s core machinery orders, which exclude volatile sectors such as ships and electric power, increased 13.6% month-over-month to JPY 1,115.9 billion in February 2026, reversing a 5.5% decline in the prior month and beating market expectations for a 1.1% drop. Manufacturing orders jumped 30.7% to JPY 569.5 billion, boosted by solid growth across key industries, including non-ferrous metals (419.1%), ship building (127.7%), chemical and chemical products (91.6%), other transport equipment (57.2%), pulp, paper and paper products (30.1%), autos, parts and accessories (20.9%), and petroleum and coal products (17.3%). Meanwhile, non-manufacturing orders rose 0.8% to JPY 568.4 billion, much slower than a 6.8% increase in January. On an annual basis, core machinery orders grew 24.7%, accelerating sharply from a 13.7% gain previously and easily beating forecasts for 8.5%.