TDB Trends Research (Nationwide, Research & Summary for March 2022)

Highest increase in purchase prices in the last 20 years,
price pass-through cannot keep up with the increase.

e-mail：keiki@mail.tdb.co.jp～ While lifting the “semi-emergency coronavirus measures”, the economy
improved only slightly due to the situation in Ukraine and earthquake. ～(Companies researched: 24,561; Valid responses: 11,765; Response rate: 47.9%;
Survey start date: May 2002)

By industry: Improved in seven industries with increased flow of people,
but the unit purchase price DI hit a record high in eight industries.

< Overview of March 2022: Halted downward trend >The economic diffusion index (DI) in March 2022 was 40.4, up. 0.5 points fromthe previous month, and improved for the first time in three months. The unit
purchase price DI hit a record high due to skyrocketing raw materials prices,
etc. The domestic economy halted its downward trend, and improved slightly,
while both positive and negative factors emerged.

By size: Although improved in all sizes for the first time in three months,
the high cost of raw materials was a downward factor.
By region: Improved in six of the ten regions, but with some impact of the
Fukushima offshore earthquake.

< Future outlook: Gentle upward >It is believed that the economy will gradually improve, with more
people turning out, with downside risks.

55
50
45
40

38.0 38.3 37.5 39.1

40.7

39.2 39.9

41.5

43.1 43.9

41.2 39.9 40.4

42.7
41.2 41.8 42.3

35
After 1 month

After 3 months

43.2 43.7

44.4 44.7 45.1 45.3

After 6 months

45.7 45.8

After 1 year

30

0
25

（Prediction→）

Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
2021
2022
2023
Projected future DI 38.0 38.3 37.5 39.1 40.7 39.2 39.9 41.5 43.1 43.9 41.2 39.9 40.4 41.2 41.8 42.3 42.7 43.2 43.7 44.4 44.7 45.1 45.3 45.7 45.8
Change from Mar.2022
0.8 1.4 1.9 2.3 2.8 3.3 4.0 4.3 4.7 4.9 5.3 5.4
Upper
42.0 43.1 43.8 44.6 45.2 45.9 46.8 47.3 47.8 48.2 48.7 48.9*: Economic DIs are calculated based on the structural ARIMA model, in which economic statistics are incorporated to the ARIMA model.
Lower
40.4 40.6 40.7 40.9 41.1 41.4 41.9 42.1 42.3 42.4 42.6 42.6

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTD

TDB Trends Research March 2022

1

Economic Diffusion Index (Economic DI)1/2
Ratio to theMar-21 Apr-21 May-21 Jun-21 Jul-21 Aug-21 Sep-21 Oct-21 Nov-21 Dec-21 Jan-22 Feb-22 Mar-22

Previous
Month

Total

38.0 38.3 37.5 39.1 40.7 39.2 39.9 41.5 43.1 43.9 41.2 39.9 40.4

0.5

Large Firms

40.2 40.8 40.2 41.9 42.9 41.4 42.5 43.8 45.7 45.9 44.0 42.9 43.4

0.5

Small to Medium-sized Firms

37.5 37.7 36.9 38.5 40.2 38.8 39.4 41.0 42.5 43.5 40.6 39.3 39.8

0.5

Micro Firms

36.7 36.3 35.6 37.1 38.4 37.4 38.7 40.0 41.3 42.1 39.1 37.9 38.4

0.5

Ratio to theMar-21 Apr-21 May-21 Jun-21 Jul-21 Aug-21 Sep-21 Oct-21 Nov-21 Dec-21 Jan-22 Feb-22 Mar-22

Previous
Month

Agriculture,Forestry,Fisheries

35.0 37.5 37.7 39.1 38.5 37.0 38.1 41.1 42.6 38.2 38.7 36.4 34.8

▲ 1.6

Finance39.2 38.3 39.5 41.7 42.8 39.7 41.5 43.0 43.3 43.8 41.9 41.6 42.5

0.9

Construction

41.6 41.4 40.0 41.6 42.7 42.5 43.7 44.7 45.4 45.2 43.3 42.5 42.8

0.3

Real Estate

40.6 40.8 39.4 40.9 41.8 39.4 42.6 43.6 44.7 46.7 42.9 42.6 42.8

0.2

Food,BEWerages,Livestock Feed34.4 35.2 33.6 34.0 35.5 32.8 34.1 38.1 39.6 40.8 35.4 33.4 34.2

0.8

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

26.8 28.7 29.2 29.3 31.0 29.3 28.2 30.2 31.4 34.1 31.6 31.7 33.0

1.3

Ceramics,Stone and Clay Products

37.8 39.3 38.6 40.1 42.5 41.2 42.7 43.7 44.9 46.4 44.1 42.7 41.1

▲ 1.6

Pulp, Paper and Paper Products

33.0 34.3 33.5 34.9 37.2 36.6 36.2 39.3 41.4 42.9 40.2 36.4 37.2

0.8

Publishing,Printing

26.0 27.2 24.2 27.1 27.4 25.6 27.1 29.4 30.2 32.1 28.6 29.5 29.6

0.1

Chemical43.3 44.2 44.3 44.5 46.3 45.0 41.9 42.6 45.7 46.7 44.5 42.3 42.7

0.4

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,Mining

39.3 40.5 39.9 43.4 46.4 45.1 43.8 44.2 45.9 46.4 44.6 43.8 42.6

▲ 1.2

General Machinery

41.2 42.1 42.2 43.7 45.9 46.6 46.2 47.2 47.8 49.1 47.7 46.7 46.7

0.0Electrical Machinery

42.6 43.2 42.8 45.0 46.8 45.9 45.8 47.5 47.0 48.5 46.6 46.1 44.3

▲ 1.8

Transportation Machinery,Equipment

45.3 45.2 45.3 47.1 50.6 48.2 37.6 37.7 43.4 45.6 41.6 39.9 40.0

0.1

Medical Instruments and Equipment

44.6 45.6 48.7 49.1 50.5 50.9 50.8 50.4 49.8 53.0 52.0 49.5 47.1

▲ 2.4

Other

34.1 35.3 33.0 34.1 37.6 33.9 35.3 35.5 36.9 41.1 35.9 36.1 35.4

▲ 0.7

38.5 39.5 39.0 40.6 42.7 41.5 40.7 42.1 43.6 45.1 42.5 41.2 40.9

▲ 0.3

Food,BEWerages

30.7 30.1 29.4 30.7 31.3 29.1 29.8 33.0 36.9 38.2 32.7 30.1 32.6

2.5

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

23.9 23.1 21.7 22.5 22.8 21.2 22.4 24.5 27.4 29.3 27.6 24.9 25.4

0.5

36.7 37.2 36.5 36.3 37.8 37.7 39.6 39.9 42.6 42.4 40.0 39.7 40.5

0.8

Paper Products,Stationery,Books

32.2 32.4 30.6 31.4 31.2 29.2 29.6 31.8 35.0 34.2 32.7 31.9 34.6

2.7

Chemical39.1 40.9 40.7 42.0 42.4 40.7 42.2 44.2 45.3 45.3 43.2 41.9 43.5

1.6

Recycled Resources

45.4 55.1 53.4 52.0 53.7 51.4 51.8 53.4 52.9 52.8 45.8 50.5 53.2

2.7

Mining Products

36.0 37.2 37.5 38.7 41.1 41.1 41.6 41.6 43.2 45.2 42.3 40.5 41.1

0.6

Machinery,Equipment

39.5 40.1 39.0 40.7 43.1 41.3 41.8 42.6 44.4 44.7 42.8 42.4 41.9

▲ 0.5

Other

34.4 34.1 32.2 35.5 36.6 33.0 34.4 37.8 39.7 40.1 36.3 33.7 35.5

1.8

35.8 36.2 35.3 36.8 38.3 36.6 37.6 39.1 41.3 41.8 39.0 37.7 38.6

0.9

Construction Materials,Furniture,

Manufacturing

Precision Machinery,

Total

Construction Materials,
Furniture,Ceramics,
Stone and Clay Products

Wholesale.

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,

Total©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTD

TDB Trends Research March 2022

2

Economic Diffusion Index (Economic DI)2/2
Ratio to theMar-21 Apr-21 May-21 Jun-21 Jul-21 Aug-21 Sep-21 Oct-21 Nov-21 Dec-21 Jan-22 Feb-22 Mar-22

Previous
MonthRetailFood,BEWerages

34.1 32.8 32.6 34.9 37.5 36.0 33.1 38.0 39.7 41.1 36.5 36.3 38.6

2.3

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

23.3 25.0 21.2 20.3 25.0 21.4 21.5 27.9 34.1 40.0 31.8 23.8 30.6

6.8

Drugs,Sundries

31.1 35.8 29.3 31.4 32.5 33.3 34.6 45.8 37.5 38.4 36.0 32.1 36.8

4.7

Furniture

38.9 42.7 40.6 39.8 36.9 34.6 32.2 35.6 34.5 42.9 35.6 29.8 30.6

0.8

Information Machinery and Equipment

34.4 37.8 30.8 35.8 37.7 33.8 33.8 34.6 35.9 35.5 32.3 30.2 33.0

2.8

Motor Vehicles,Motor Vehicle Parts

37.0 38.3 38.6 40.7 40.5 36.8 37.2 35.9 37.8 36.5 35.0 33.5 34.7

1.2

Special Merchandise

35.9 34.6 34.5 34.8 34.3 32.6 31.7 32.8 33.5 36.0 33.3 30.9 29.9

▲ 1.0

Various Merchandise

37.3 32.2 31.1 33.0 35.6 27.3 33.0 35.9 38.0 37.5 36.2 32.6 34.0

1.4

Other

35.0 40.5 25.0 33.3 35.7 37.0 35.4 31.7 37.9 43.3 40.0 40.0 43.9

3.9

Electrical Household Appliances,

Total

Transportation,Warehousing

Service34.9 34.7 33.1 34.5 35.4 32.7 32.6 34.8 36.0 37.7 34.4 31.9 33.3

1.4

33.9 34.5 33.7 34.5 36.3 36.0 35.8 37.1 39.1 40.3 37.7 35.5 35.4

▲ 0.1

Restaurants

18.9 14.9 13.0 20.5 19.7 14.8 15.2 27.8 31.4 34.7 24.2 16.9 23.8

6.9

Postal,Telecommunications

43.8 38.9 40.5 27.8 42.9 39.6 41.7 50.0 40.5 41.7 46.7 50.0 48.5

▲ 1.5

Electricity,Gas,Water,Heat

47.1 40.4 41.2 45.0 40.8 44.4 45.8 42.6 38.9 39.7 40.0 37.5 33.3

▲ 4.2

Leasing,Rentals

35.0 35.4 35.0 38.1 41.0 37.4 39.6 43.9 44.9 44.8 42.0 41.0 40.2

▲ 0.8

Lodging, Hotels

10.9

Recreation

33.1 25.8 29.5 29.2 34.8 29.2 29.0 34.0 36.7 38.4 33.3 31.2 35.1

3.9

Broadcasting

51.0 42.7 42.7 42.2 42.2 38.9 39.2 49.1 48.1 46.9 45.8 47.6 44.4

▲ 3.2

Maintenance,Guarding,Testing

40.4 39.2 40.8 42.7 41.9 41.6 44.0 44.3 45.3 45.7 42.3 40.2 42.3

2.1

Advertising26.5 25.6 23.4 27.5 27.5 26.8 29.5 32.4 36.8 37.7 32.7 31.5 36.4

4.9

Information

45.5 45.2 44.9 46.8 48.2 46.7 48.5 50.5 51.2 52.5 50.1 50.2 51.1

0.9

Labor Dispatching

34.1 35.8 35.5 36.2 41.9 38.4 41.9 39.7 44.3 43.3 45.1 41.5 44.4

2.9

Special Services

43.6 43.5 41.5 43.4 47.3 44.4 45.5 47.9 49.2 50.3 47.2 46.2 46.9

0.7

Medical,Welfare,Public Health37.1 39.1 39.2 41.2 42.1 41.1 41.4 42.8 45.7 43.2 42.4 41.0 42.5

1.5

Education

32.1 35.7 37.1 38.7 40.3 37.5 39.0 43.5 39.1 43.2 39.7 40.2 37.8

▲ 2.4

34.5 34.8 35.2 35.8 37.4 34.7 39.2 40.6 41.7 42.4 39.3 36.9 39.3

2.4

38.5 37.9 37.5 39.7 41.5 39.1 41.1 43.6 45.3 46.1 42.8 41.4 43.1

1.7

34.4 34.1 33.3 35.5 34.7 35.3 35.6 38.0 39.6 40.5 36.3 37.3 38.7

1.4

Other
Total

Other

8.6

5.6

11.6 13.0 10.0 10.4 22.6 30.2 29.5 12.9 12.8 18.1

5.3

Ratio to theMar-21 Apr-21 May-21 Jun-21 Jul-21 Aug-21 Sep-21 Oct-21 Nov-21 Dec-21 Jan-22 Feb-22 Mar-22

PreviousMonthHokkaido

35.3 36.2 34.5 37.1 38.3 38.0 38.5 40.8 40.8 41.1 38.6 37.0 36.5

▲ 0.5

Tohoku36.8 38.0 37.7 39.3 40.0 38.4 39.0 40.2 42.1 41.7 38.1 37.0 37.0

0.0

kitakanto

39.2 39.7 39.5 41.2 42.7 41.5 40.4 42.8 44.4 45.0 42.3 40.7 40.7

0.0

minamikanto

38.4 38.7 38.4 39.8 41.0 40.0 41.4 42.4 43.9 44.8 42.6 41.5 42.1

0.6

Hokuriku

38.2 38.6 37.1 39.2 40.6 39.1 40.4 41.2 42.6 43.6 40.9 39.2 39.2

0.0

Tokai

38.4 38.9 37.9 39.4 42.0 40.0 39.1 40.1 42.4 44.4 41.1 39.7 40.2

0.5

Kinki

37.4 37.0 36.2 38.1 40.3 38.7 39.3 41.3 42.7 43.3 40.8 39.8 40.5

0.7

Chugoku37.7 37.8 36.0 37.9 39.0 38.2 38.7 41.2 42.3 42.9 40.7 40.0 40.7

0.7

Shikoku37.5 36.4 35.8 37.6 38.2 36.9 38.3 39.0 41.8 43.2 39.3 37.1 38.9

1.8

Kyushu39.0 39.5 37.5 38.3 40.5 37.4 39.1 42.0 44.3 44.5 41.3 39.5 40.9

1.4

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTD

TDB Trends Research March 2022

3

Appendix

1.Research Subjects(Companies researched: 24,561; Valid
responses: 11,765; Response rate: 47.9%)
1.Region

Hokkaido
TohokukitaKantominamikanto
Hokuriku

605
806
908
3,343
621

Kyushu

1,269
2,046
740
407
1,020

Total

11,765

Tokai

Kinki
Chugoku
Shikoku

2.Industry (10 Industries 51 Lines of business)
Agriculture,Forestry,Fisheries

80

Finance

113

Construction

1,974

Real Estate392（3,124）Wholesale（2,936）85

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

55

Drugs,Sundries

29

Furniture18

Food,Beverages,Livestock Feed

387

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

111

Motor Vehicles,Motor Vehicle Parts

111

Construction Materials,Furniture,Ceramics,Stone and Clay Products

239

Special Merchandise

192

98

Various Merchandise

47

Pulp, Paper and Paper Products

Manufacturing

Retail（593）

Food,Beverages

Electrical Household Appliances,Information Machinery and Equipment

Publishing,Printing

178

Chemical

426

Transportation,Warehousing

530

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,Mining

554

Restaurants

72

General Machinery

516

Telecommunications

11

Electrical Machinery

339

Electricity,Gas,Water,Heat

Transportation Machinery,Equipment

108

Leasing,Rentals

119

Precision Machinery,Medical Instruments and Equipment

80

Lodging, Hotels

47

Others88

Recreation

67

Food,Beverages

398

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

180

Construction Materials,Furniture,Ceramics,Stone and Clay Products
Paper Products,Stationery,Books
ChemicalRecycled Resources

11

OthersService（1,976）

16

21

Broadcasting
Maintenance,Guarding,Testing

228

358

Advertising

108

109

Information

509

275

Labor Dispatching69

31

Special Services

337
114

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,Mining Products

302

Medical,Welfare,Public Health

Machinery,Equipment935

Education

Others348

Others37
221
47

OthersTotal

3.Size45

Large Firms

1,882

16.0%

Small to Medium-sized Firms

9,883

84.0%

micro Firms

3,632

30.9%

Total

11,765100.0%©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTD

11,765

TDB Trends Research March 2022

4

2.Research Items

An economic DI of 50 is the point separating good and bad, so a DI over
50 means “good,” and below 50 means “bad.” (The numbers are rounded
off to one decimal place.) No weight is given according to a company's size,and calculations are made on the basis of “one company, one vote.”*Business Confidence (current, in 3 months, in 6 months, in 1 year)*Business Conditions (sales, purchasing and selling unit price, inventory, capacity
utilization ratio, number of employees, overtime work hours).Size Classification

3.Research Period and Methodology

Internet-based survey conducted March 17 – 31 2022

Industry

The explanation of the Economic Diffusion Index
Research Purpose/Researched Terms
TDB Economic Trend Research (started from May 2002) is a monthly
statistical survey conducted for over 24,000 nationwide corporations on theirgeneral business activities including the current condition and future outlookof the industry business performance and operating climate. The primary
purpose of such a survey is to assess the current state of Japan’s economy.
Selection of the Subject Corporations
Companies of all sizes in all domestic industries are eligible to participate in
the survey.

Manufacturing andOther Industries*
W holesale Trade
Retail Trade
Service**

Large Firm s

Sm all to Medium -Sized Firm s(Micro Firm s included)

Capital: More than 300 m illion yen
andNo. of Em ployee: Over 300
Capital: More than 100 m illion yen
andNo. of Em ployee: Over 100
Capital: More than 50 m illion yen
andNo. of Em ployee: Over 50
Capital: More than 50 m illion yen
andNo. of Em ployee: Over 100

Capital: Below 300 m illion yenor
No. of Em ployee: Below 300
Capital: Below 100 m illion yenor
No. of Em ployee: Below 100
Capital: Below 50 m illion yenor
No. of Em ployee: Below 50
Capital: Below 50 m illion yenor
No. of Em ployee: Below 100

Micro Firm s

No. of Em ployee: Below 20
No. of Em ployee: Below 5
No. of Em ployee: Below 5
No. of Em ployee: Below 5

Note1: Large Firm s refer to com panies that rank in the top 3% in term s of sales volum e according to the type of business, am ong sm all to m idium -sizedcorporations excluding m icro firm s, which are defined in Sm all and Medium Enterprises Basic Act.
Note2: Sm all to Medium -Sized Firm s refer to com panies that rank in the bottom 50% in term s of sales volum e according to the type of business, am ong
those not categorized as sm all to m idium -sized corporations in Sm all to Medium -Sized Enterprises Basic Act.

DI Calculation
The DI（Diffusion Index）is calculated by multiplying the number of responses
for each assessment category by the number given in parentheses in thetable below, to a seven-level assessment rated by companies.
Selection category Extremely good

good

fairly goodneither good nor bad

fairly badbadvery badpoints

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

number of responses
for each category

N6

N5

N4

N3

N2

N1

N0

Economic DI＝

Total of (Points for each category × Number of responses for each category)∑≡

Number of valid responses N
6i≡0i × Ni

N

×

1
6

×

1
6

× 100

× 100

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTD

TDB Trends Research March 20225