Japan lags behind in growth of Dutch exports to Asia

Japan has dropped four places on the list of top Asian markets for exports of Dutch-manufactured goods since 2002. That year, Japan was still the single largest Asian market, but by 2010 it ranked third, dropping to fifth place this year behind China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Although exports to Japan did not decrease in value, other Asian markets grew more strongly, as reported by Statistics Netherlands.

Japan’s share in total exports slightly diminished

Japan’s share in total exports of Dutch-manufactured exports goods has diminished from 1.2 percent in 2002 to 1.0 percent in 2015. In contrast, the shares of China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan combined have doubled in the same period from 3.1 to 6.3 percent. Dutch exports to each individual country have gone up , while China’s share has groewn most significantly,  further boosting the growth of the Asian market share from 8.3 percent in 2002 to 15.0 percent in 2015.

Strongly increased exports of Dutch machinery to Japan, Korea and Taiwan

Specialised machinery produced in the Netherlands, such as machinery for the manufacturing of computer chips, has gained an increasing share in exports to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Its share in the Dutch exports to Japan has increased eightfold since 2002. This share has grown even more in exports to South Korea and Taiwan, where specialised machinery has come to represent more than half of the total export value, strongly contributing to the increasing focus on these countries in total exports of Dutch products.

In China and Singapore, on the other hand, the market for specialised machinery has not increased. Growth in Dutch exports to Singapore is largely in oil products , while exports to China have increased for many different products.

Specialised machinery by far the most important product to Japan

Over the first eight months of 2015, Dutch specialised machinery exports to Japan represented a total value of 438 million euros. Instruments and equipment produced in the Netherlands, e.g. for medical use, represented the second largest Dutch product exported to Japan at a value of 112 million euros. These were followed by pharmaceuticals, dairy products such as cheese and (spare parts for) road vehicles.

In total, exports of Dutch products to Japan over the first eight months of 2015 amounted to 1.5 billion euros.