TDB Trends Research (Nationwide, Research & Summary for February 2023)

Domestic economy at a standstill- insufficient pricepass-through～ Amidst labor shortages and rising prices for daily necessities,
gaps between regions widen ～e-mail：keiki@mail.tdb.co.jp(Companies researched: 27,607; Valid responses: 10,203; Response rate: 37.0%; Survey
start date: May 2002)

By industry: Improvement in 5 industries in spite of the harshenvironment surrounding corporations, including a jump in purchaseprices.

< Trends in February 2023: Standstill >The economic diffusion index (DI) in February 2023 was 42.1, the same as theprevious month. The domestic economy remains at a standstill withinsufficient progress in price pass-through and continued labor shortages.

By size: Although “small and medium-sized corporations” saw an
improvement for the first time in 3 months, price increases and highcosts exerted downward pressure.
By region: Economic conditions worsened in 5 out of 10 regions, with thebetween-region gap widening to 7.6 points.

< Future outlook: Generally continued tendency to plateau >Although the outlook is bearish with many factors that could cause adownturn, the present forecast is a generally continued tendency toplateau.

504540.8 41.2
39.9 40.4

41.4 41.3 41.4 41.9

42.6 43.1 43.0 42.1 42.1

42.0 41.9 41.8 41.7 41.6 41.5 41.7 41.7 41.6 41.9 42.0 42.1

4035

After 3 months
After 1 month

After 6 months

After 1 year

（Prediction→）
300 Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb202220232024
Projected future DI 39.9 40.4 40.8 41.2 41.4 41.3 41.4 41.9 42.6 43.1 43.0 42.1 42.1 42.0 41.9 41.8 41.7 41.6 41.5 41.7 41.7 41.6 41.9 42.0 42.1
Change from Feb.2023-0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 -0.5 -0.6 -0.4 -0.4 -0.5 -0.2 -0.1 0.0
Upper
44.1 44.4
44.5
44.6 44.7 44.7 45.0 45.1 45.1 45.5 45.6 45.8*: The economic forecast DI is calculated using the Forecast Combination method of the results of the ARIMA model and the structural
equationmodel.
Lower
39.9 39.5 39.1 38.8 38.5 38.3 38.4 38.3 38.1 38.3 38.3 38.3

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTDTDB Trends Research Feb 2023

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Economic Diffusion Index (Economic DI)1/2
Ratio to theFeb-22 Mar-22 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23

PreviousMonthTotal

39.9 40.4 40.8 41.2 41.4 41.3 41.4 41.9 42.6 43.1 43.0 42.1 42.1

0.0

Large Firms

42.9 43.4 43.1 43.5 43.5 43.4 43.8 43.6 44.2 45.0 44.8 44.8 44.2

▲ 0.6

Small to Medium-sized Firms

39.3 39.8 40.3 40.7 41.0 40.8 41.0 41.6 42.3 42.7 42.6 41.6 41.7

0.1

Micro Firms

37.9 38.4 38.9 39.5 40.0 39.7 39.8 40.7 41.1 41.4 41.3 40.4 40.9

0.5

Ratio to theFeb-22 Mar-22 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23

Previous
Month

Agriculture,Forestry,Fisheries

36.4 34.8 35.0 37.6 34.7 36.3 35.9 35.8 36.4 37.7 37.9 37.4 38.9

1.5

Finance41.6 42.5 41.1 42.7 42.3 41.9 41.7 43.6 43.2 44.5 44.3 44.8 43.3

▲ 1.5

Construction

42.5 42.8 41.8 42.2 42.5 43.1 43.3 44.0 44.2 44.9 44.6 44.1 43.7

▲ 0.4

Real Estate

42.6 42.8 43.2 44.7 45.9 44.7 44.8 45.3 44.0 45.6 44.8 46.1 46.3

0.2

Food,BEWerages,Livestock Feed

33.4 34.2 36.4 37.6 37.8 36.7 36.1 35.5 38.2 38.8 38.3 38.1 37.0

▲ 1.1

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

31.7 33.0 34.6 33.8 34.4 36.1 32.6 36.2 35.7 36.5 37.9 37.7 39.0

1.3

Ceramics,Stone and Clay Products

42.7 41.1 41.7 41.1 40.4 40.8 39.8 40.2 40.9 41.9 41.0 38.0 37.6

▲ 0.4Pulp, Paper and Paper Products

36.4 37.2 40.3 38.3 37.4 37.5 36.6 38.0 40.4 40.2 39.2 39.8 36.6

▲ 3.2

Publishing,Printing

29.5 29.6 30.7 30.3 29.7 29.1 29.6 30.0 31.8 32.9 32.4 31.7 31.6

▲ 0.1

Chemical

42.3 42.7 42.3 41.7 41.1 41.8 42.6 42.3 40.8 40.8 41.5 40.3 39.2

▲ 1.1

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,Mining

43.8 42.6 42.1 40.9 41.2 42.9 42.7 43.0 43.9 43.6 43.1 41.7 41.0

▲ 0.7

General Machinery

46.7 46.7 45.9 46.9 46.3 46.3 46.2 45.4 45.8 45.9 44.9 43.3 43.7

0.4

Electrical Machinery

46.1 44.3 44.8 44.3 44.8 44.7 44.2 45.2 44.8 45.4 44.5 43.3 43.2

▲ 0.1

Transportation Machinery,Equipment

39.9 40.0 38.1 37.6 36.8 40.3 41.2 40.2 42.2 42.1 41.0 38.7 39.6

0.9

Construction Materials,Furniture,Manufacturing

Precision Machinery,
Medical Instruments and Equipment

49.5 47.1 46.8 48.2 48.8 48.5 46.5 46.2 46.1 46.1 46.3 46.5 49.0

2.5

Other

36.1 35.4 37.3 39.2 38.1 37.8 38.2 37.5 35.4 35.9 37.0 39.1 36.1

▲ 3.0

Total

41.2 40.9 41.2 41.0 40.8 41.3 41.0 41.1 41.6 41.9 41.5 40.4 40.0

▲ 0.4

Food,BEWerages

30.1 32.6 36.2 37.3 37.1 37.0 35.6 35.8 37.4 38.8 38.2 37.5 38.3

0.8

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

24.9 25.4 28.7 31.4 31.3 29.9 29.9 29.9 32.4 33.1 34.0 34.7 35.9

1.2

39.7 40.5 38.6 38.1 38.3 38.6 38.5 37.5 39.8 39.5 40.2 38.3 37.2

▲ 1.1

Construction Materials,Furniture,Ceramics,
Stone and Clay Products

Wholesale

Paper Products,Stationery,Books

31.9 34.6 33.8 34.2 32.8 33.0 33.5 34.5 37.1 37.0 33.8 34.8 35.6

0.8

Chemical41.9 43.5 42.3 42.3 41.6 43.5 43.0 43.4 42.6 43.8 43.5 42.8 41.7

▲ 1.1

Recycled Resources

50.5 53.2 54.0 47.5 41.4 40.9 39.6 47.0 46.3 43.5 46.2 43.3 43.2

▲ 0.1

Mining Products

40.5 41.1 40.3 40.0 39.7 39.3 39.3 39.8 39.7 40.2 39.9 38.5 37.1

▲ 1.4

Machinery,Equipment

42.4 41.9 42.5 42.0 42.9 43.1 42.6 43.3 44.1 44.1 43.8 43.0 43.30.3

Other

33.7 35.5 37.3 37.8 38.1 37.7 37.7 38.2 39.0 39.6 40.9 40.0 40.9

0.9

37.7 38.6 39.2 39.4 39.4 39.5 39.2 39.6 40.6 41.0 41.0 40.1 40.1

0.0

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,

.

Total

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTDTDB Trends Research Feb 2023

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Economic Diffusion Index (Economic DI)2/2
Ratio to theFeb-22 Mar-22 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23

PreviousMonthRetailFood,BEWerages

36.3 38.6 37.7 41.8 42.7 40.3 39.9 40.2 39.6 43.2 42.2 42.3 40.6

▲ 1.7

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

23.8 30.6 33.6 33.9 33.6 37.7 33.6 34.9 38.7 38.1 35.4 34.2 35.7

1.5

Drugs,Sundries

32.1 36.8 32.1 38.9 40.1 37.1 41.9 39.5 38.9 40.6 39.0 37.2 38.5

1.3

Furniture

29.8 30.6 39.2 34.3 39.8 35.2 36.1 40.0 37.8 36.2 31.0 34.2 33.3

▲ 0.9

Information Machinery and Equipment

30.2 33.0 33.7 34.7 34.0 36.7 32.7 37.1 35.1 35.3 37.2 36.3 37.5

1.2

Motor Vehicles,Motor Vehicle Parts

33.5 34.7 35.1 37.1 36.4 32.4 35.9 38.8 37.6 37.2 35.3 38.2 38.7

0.5

Special Merchandise

30.9 29.9 31.3 33.1 34.3 33.2 34.7 34.0 33.5 35.4 34.8 34.4 35.3

0.9

Various Merchandise

32.6 34.0 36.4 39.9 37.8 40.2 38.0 36.1 41.3 41.4 42.6 42.5 41.0

▲ 1.5

Other

40.0 43.9 34.7 41.0 39.7 36.9 42.3 32.1 36.5 44.9 41.1 42.3 44.8

2.5

Electrical Household Appliances,

Total

Transportation,Warehousing

Service31.9 33.3 34.0 36.4 36.7 35.7 36.3 36.7 36.8 38.2 37.4 37.5 37.70.2

35.5 35.4 36.6 37.2 37.1 37.8 37.3 38.2 40.7 41.6 41.6 38.9 38.0

▲ 0.9

Restaurants

16.9 23.8 32.8 34.3 38.0 34.0 28.1 31.8 39.0 39.1 41.5 38.5 42.4

3.9

Postal,Telecommunications

50.0 48.5 50.0 53.0 56.0 47.0 47.9 51.9 52.4 50.0 48.3 47.6 44.4

▲ 3.2

Electricity,Gas,Water,Heat

37.5 33.3 35.7 40.6 34.3 37.7 35.9 36.1 31.1 32.3 36.7 32.4 32.1

▲ 0.3

Leasing,Rentals

41.0 40.2 42.0 43.3 44.9 40.8 44.7 45.6 47.5 48.4 47.4 46.8 47.4

0.6

Lodging, Hotels

12.8 18.1 28.3 33.0 33.3 30.3 38.0 37.4 53.3 54.8 52.2 48.3 48.0

▲ 0.3

Recreation

31.2 35.1 35.6 38.9 41.6 40.7 40.1 42.2 45.0 43.8 43.2 42.1 44.1

2.0

Broadcasting

47.6 44.4 43.9 43.3 41.7 43.0 38.3 46.1 43.1 41.7 39.5 40.7 41.1

0.4

Maintenance,Guarding,Testing

40.2 42.3 43.1 42.5 44.2 42.2 43.4 42.8 42.8 43.6 45.6 42.9 42.6

▲ 0.3

Advertising31.5 36.4 36.9 34.8 37.3 34.3 36.7 39.3 40.9 40.3 39.7 40.2 41.4

1.2

Information

50.2 51.1 50.8 50.8 52.0 51.5 52.7 53.0 52.3 53.0 53.6 53.2 53.8

0.6

Labor Dispatching

41.5 44.4 45.7 47.6 45.7 46.5 49.8 47.4 48.8 46.5 50.0 48.5 47.9

▲ 0.6

Special Services

46.2 46.9 48.1 48.1 49.6 48.7 48.3 49.4 49.0 48.8 48.7 48.5 49.2

0.7

Medical,Welfare,Public Health41.0 42.5 44.5 44.4 43.5 42.5 41.2 41.7 43.2 43.6 42.8 42.9 41.5

▲ 1.4

Education

40.2 37.8 39.6 35.6 40.1 38.8 39.7 43.7 42.1 42.8 41.2 38.4 41.9

3.5

Other

36.9 39.3 42.1 42.7 42.8 42.4 41.2 42.8 43.3 43.5 44.0 42.2 44.3

2.1

Total

Other

41.4 43.1 44.5 44.8 45.9 44.4 45.4 46.3 47.1 47.3 47.7 46.6 47.4

0.8

37.3 38.7 36.8 38.1 35.6 36.6 38.3 37.2 37.9 38.2 36.7 36.5 37.0

0.5

Ratio to theFeb-22 Mar-22 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23

PreviousMonthHokkaido

37.0 36.5 37.9 38.9 40.1 41.0 40.2 40.7 41.2 40.9 40.8 40.1 40.6

0.5

Tohoku37.0 37.0 37.6 39.1 39.0 38.8 38.1 39.3 39.9 40.3 39.4 38.0 37.2

▲ 0.8

kitakanto

40.7 40.7 42.0 42.1 42.6 42.9 43.8 42.5 43.7 43.7 43.1 40.9 41.4

0.5

minamikanto

41.5 42.1 42.4 42.7 43.2 42.6 43.3 43.6 43.8 44.4 44.7 44.1 43.9

▲ 0.2

Hokuriku

39.2 39.2 39.9 40.6 40.5 41.5 40.8 41.7 42.3 42.2 42.2 40.9 41.2

0.3

Tokai39.7 40.2 40.2 40.1 39.5 39.5 39.7 40.4 41.1 41.4 41.7 41.0 41.10.1

Kinki

39.8 40.5 40.8 40.9 40.9 40.9 41.1 41.5 42.3 43.0 42.7 42.0 41.8

▲ 0.2

Chugoku

40.0 40.7 39.8 40.6 41.1 41.3 40.9 41.8 42.8 43.8 43.4 41.9 41.8

▲ 0.1

Shikoku

37.1 38.9 38.1 38.7 38.4 38.3 37.7 38.7 40.3 40.0 39.3 39.0 38.6

▲ 0.4

Kyushu39.5 40.9 41.5 41.6 42.2 41.5 41.3 43.0 44.0 45.1 44.8 44.0 44.8

0.8

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTDTDB Trends Research Feb 2023

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Appendix
1.Research Subjects(Companies researched: 27,607; Validresponses: 10,203; Response rate: 37.0%)
1.Region
Hokkaido
TohokukitaKantominamikanto
Hokuriku

Tokai480
669
790
2,980
536

Kyushu

1,090
1,758
711
336
853

Total

10,203

Kinki
Chugoku
Shikoku

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

98

Finance147

Construction

1,613

Real Estate402（2,569）Wholesale（2,368）

89

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

49

Drugs,Sundries

52

Furniture

17

Electrical Household Appliances,Information Machinery and Equipment

36

Food,Beverages,Livestock Feed

307

Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

106

Motor Vehicles,Motor Vehicle Parts

Construction Materials,Furniture,Ceramics,Stone and Clay Products

185

Special Merchandise81

Various Merchandise

50

Others16

Pulp, Paper and Paper Products

Manufacturing

Retail（590）

Food,Beverages

Publishing,Printing

141

81
200

Chemical

344

Transportation,Warehousing

457

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,Mining

465

Restaurants

81

General Machinery

431

Telecommunications

Electrical Machinery

279

Electricity,Gas,Water,Heat

6
13

Transportation Machinery,Equipment

95

Leasing,Rentals

103

Precision Machinery,Medical Instruments and Equipment

68

Lodging, Hotels

82

Others67

Recreation

94

Food,Beverages

319Textile,Textile Products,Clothing

147

Construction Materials,Furniture,Ceramics,Stone and Clay Products

270

Advertising

95

82

Information

523

Paper Products,Stationery,Books
ChemicalRecycled Resources

Service（1,923）

15

Broadcasting
Maintenance,Guarding,Testing

181

216

Labor Dispatching

78

27

Special Services

285
122

Steel,Nonferrous Metals,Mining Products

242

Medical,Welfare,Public Health

Machinery,Equipment759

Education

Others306

Others35210
36

OthersTotal

10,2033.SizeLarge Firms

1,598

15.7%

Small to Medium-sized Firms

8,605

84.3%

micro Firms

3,261

32.0%

Total

10,203100.0%©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTDTDB Trends Research Feb 2023

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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, capacityutilization ratio, number of employees, overtime work hours).Size Classification

3.Research Period and Methodology
Internet-based survey conducted February 14– 28 2023

Industry
Manufacturing andOther Industries*

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 26,000 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 inthe survey.

Wholesale Trade
Retail Trade
Service**Large Firms

Small to Medium-Sized Firms(Micro Firms included)

Capital: More than 300 million yen
andNo. of Employee: Over 300
Capital: More than 100 million yen
andNo. of Employee: Over 100
Capital: More than 50 million yen
andNo. of Employee: Over 50
Capital: More than 50 million yen
andNo. of Employee: Over 100

Capital: Below 300 million yenor
No. of Employee: Below 300
Capital: Below 100 million yenor
No. of Employee: Below 100
Capital: Below 50 million yenor
No. of Employee: Below 50
Capital: Below 50 million yenor
No. of Employee: Below 100

Micro Firms
No. of Employee: Below 20
No. of Employee: Below 5
No. of Employee: Below 5
No. of Employee: Below 5

Note1: Large Firms refer to companies that rank in the top 3% in terms of sales volume according to the type of business, among small to midium-sizedcorporations excluding micro firms, which are defined in Small and Medium Enterprises Basic Act.
Note2: Small to Medium-Sized Firms refer to companies that rank in the bottom 50% in terms of sales volume according to the type of business, among
those not categorized as small to midium-sized corporations in Small 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

65432

10

number of responses
for each category

N6N5N4N3N2N1N0

Economic DI
Total of (Points for each category  Number of responses for each category) 1＝
  100
Number of valid responsesN6

6i 0i  Ni

N

1
 100
6

©TEIKOKUDATABANK,LTD

TDB Trends Research Feb 2023

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