Japan SME Trends Survey (JFC)
Quarterly survey of small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly those with 20 or more employees, since 1981: business conditions, sales, inventory, prices, net profit ratio, employment, capital investment, cash position and borrowing DIs, plus the share of firms naming each item as their main business problem.
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | Q4-2023 | Q3-2023 | Q2-2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diffusion indexes10 | ||||||||||||||
| Business conditions DI (seasonally adjusted) | 2.7 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 3.7 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 4.6 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 8.5 | |
| Sales DI (seasonally adjusted) | 15.3 | 10.7 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 12 | 15.1 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 8.4 | 10.5 | 14.9 | 16.4 | 18.3 | |
| Inventory DI | -5.3 | -6.1 | -7.6 | -7.3 | -7.6 | -11.1 | -13.9 | -12.7 | -13.3 | -13.6 | -13.2 | -15.1 | -15.7 | |
| Selling prices DI | 51.4 | 39.2 | 40 | 38.9 | 39.7 | 43.7 | 45.3 | 43 | 41.7 | 39.1 | 44.9 | 44.6 | 47 | |
| Purchase prices DI | 85.8 | 70.5 | 68.1 | 67.7 | 67.6 | 74.1 | 76 | 74.6 | 76.1 | 71.4 | 78.2 | 78.8 | 81.2 | |
| Net profit ratio DI (seasonally adjusted) | -4 | -3.5 | -3.1 | -3.9 | -2.6 | -0.5 | -2.1 | -2.6 | -5.6 | -3.1 | -3.7 | -4.8 | -5.5 | |
| Employees DI (seasonally adjusted) | 6.8 | 8.2 | 8 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6 | 6.7 | 2.9 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 6.5 | |
| Cash position DI (seasonally adjusted) | 0.8 | 0.7 | -0.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | |
| Ease of short-term borrowing DI | 8.9 | 9.1 | 10.3 | 9.1 | 7.8 | 9.9 | 11.3 | 9.1 | 10.5 | 11 | 11.2 | 9.7 | 9.7 | |
| Ease of long-term borrowing DI | 3.3 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 3 | 4.2 | 5 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 5 | 3.8 | 4.1 | |
| Capital investment: share of firms investing (seasonally adjusted) | 38.2 | 38.1 | 36.1 | 36.7 | 37.1 | 37.4 | 37.7 | 38 | 38.2 | 38 | 37.5 | 37.1 | 38.1 | |
| Main business problems (share of firms)7 | ||||||||||||||
| Stagnant or falling sales and orders | 24.2 | 27.6 | 29.3 | 30.2 | 31.3 | 28.3 | 28 | 28.5 | 29.4 | 30.1 | 28.9 | 28.8 | 27.3 | |
| High raw material costs | 30.9 | 17.5 | 16.2 | 15.2 | 16.6 | 18.9 | 18.4 | 19.4 | 21.8 | 18.2 | 22 | 24.8 | 25.8 | |
| Low product prices and demands for price cuts | 1.2 | 1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1 | 1.1 | |
| Rising labour costs | 10.2 | 14.1 | 15.3 | 15.8 | 12.7 | |||||||||
| Rising interest payments | 3.2 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.6 | |||||||||
| Difficulty hiring | 18.7 | 24.3 | 22.4 | 23.9 | 22.9 | 24.3 | 26.5 | 25.4 | 26.3 | 28.1 | 25.9 | 24.2 | 24.6 | |
| Other problems | 11.7 | 11.5 | 12 | 11.1 | 12 | 13.3 | 14.1 | 14.1 | 13.2 | 14.6 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 14.9 |
Latest reading
Business conditions DI (seasonally adjusted) stood at 2.7 in Q2 2026. That is −2.6 from Q1 2026 and −1 from a year earlier. The series on this page is quarterly and runs from Q1 1981 to Q2 2026.
- Latest
- 2.7
- Q2 2026
- vs previous period
- −2.6
- Q1 2026
- vs a year earlier
- −1
About this data
Quarterly survey of small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly those with 20 or more employees, since 1981: business conditions, sales, inventory, prices, net profit ratio, employment, capital investment, cash position and borrowing DIs, plus the share of firms naming each item as their main business problem. A diffusion index (DI) is the share of firms answering 'increase' or 'good' minus the share answering 'decrease' or 'bad'. Source: Japan Finance Corporation (JFC) Research Institute.
