According to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japanese industrial production fell by 1.3% in January compared with the previous month. Driven by stagnation in semiconductor supply and other sectors in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, industrial production fell by 1.0% in December.
The automotive manufacturing sector recorded the sharpest decline of 17.2%, as the nationwide epidemic of the Omicron virus caused a disruption in the domestic supply chain.
Chemical production fell by 3.8% as an epidemic and a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in southwestern Japan forced some factories to halt production in January.
In mid-February, officials said the Covid 19 epidemic and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine were likely to affect productivity.
Russia launched an offensive against Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, after increasing its military presence along the border in recent months, prompting the United States, Japan and Europe to impose tougher sanctions on Russia. These include the exclusion of some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.