Natural disasters cost Japan over $10 billion

Nov 05, 2018 | News On Japan

Nov 05, 2018 (NHK) - Japan's government-affiliated financial institution says the 4 major natural disasters that hit the country this year are expected to have a negative impact on the country's economy of more than 10 billion dollars.

The 4 disasters are the earthquake that hit northern Osaka Prefecture in June, record rainfall in western Japan in July, Typhoon Jebi in September and the earthquake in Hokkaido, also in September.

The Development Bank of Japan estimated the impact they made on companies' production and continue to have on tourism.

The bank says the negative impact on the manufacturing sector totaled 4 billion 770 million dollars. That's due to damaged production facilities at automotive, electronic component and other factories.

The impact is estimated to be about 4 billion dollars in the non-manufacturing sector, where business was disrupted by power outages and by cancellations of and delays to public transportation.

A decline in the number of foreign tourists is estimated to have an impact worth about 1.4 billion dollars on consumption and related production activity.

The institution says investment for recovery should focus on increasing productivity and competitiveness, rather than restoration.

The bank also recommends that companies review their emergency business continuity plans, learning from the closure of airports and large-scale power outages during this year's disasters.

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