Japan - Industry

Industry, including manufacturing, construction, and mining, has been the engine of growth for Japan since the end of World War II. As happens in all mature industrial economies, the expansion of the service sector has surpassed that of industry, which has been reduced to the second largest sector. In 1999, industry's contribution to GDP was about 35 percent, a decrease from the 1970s when it was more than 40 percent. In 1999, industry employed about 30 percent of the labor force (20.34 million workers), a decrease from 1995 when it accounted for 31.7 percent (21.2 million).