Japan GDP: 2026 Schedule, Dates and What to Expect

Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) report measures the total value of goods and services produced in the world’s fourth largest economy. It is compiled and published by the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, and it arrives twice per quarter: a first preliminary estimate roughly six weeks after the quarter ends, then a revised second estimate about three weeks later. The next release is on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 8:50 am JST, which is 7:50 pm ET on September 7 and 12:50 am in London on September 8. That release is the revised second estimate of April to June 2026 growth. This page carries the full 2026 and 2027 calendar, the methodology, the market reaction pattern and an ICS and Google Calendar feed so the dates drop straight into your own diary. For the equivalent US series, see the US GDP report hub.

2026 and 2027 schedule

Every confirmed Japan GDP release date, in Japan Standard Time (JST). Because 8:50 am in Tokyo falls in the previous evening in New York and just after midnight in London, the data lands while Western markets are closed or thin, and the first reaction is usually seen in the yen and in Japanese government bond futures.

Dates are set by the Cabinet Office and are confirmed on its release calendar. The pattern is consistent: preliminary estimates land in mid-February, mid-May, mid-August and mid-November, with revisions in early March, June, September and December.

What is Japan GDP?

GDP is the standard measure of the size of an economy. It adds up everything produced in a country over a set period, valued at market prices. Japan’s quarterly estimates are published in two forms that matter for markets: the quarter-on-quarter change (growth compared with the previous three months) and the annualised rate (what growth would be over a full year if that quarterly pace continued). Japanese headlines usually lead with the annualised number, which is why a 0.3% quarterly figure can appear in the press as 1.1%.

The release is described as real GDP when it is adjusted for inflation and nominal GDP when it is not. Real GDP tells you whether the economy is producing more; nominal GDP tells you how much money is changing hands. In Japan, where consumer prices spent decades barely moving and have risen more quickly in recent years, the gap between the two has become an important story in its own right, because it shapes tax revenue, corporate sales and the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio.

The report also breaks growth into its components: private consumption (more than half of the economy), capital expenditure by companies, public spending, housing investment, inventories and net exports. Traders often care more about that breakdown than the headline. Growth driven by exports and stockbuilding is treated as fragile; growth driven by household spending and business investment is treated as durable, and matters far more for the Bank of Japan’s judgement on whether wage and price increases can be sustained.

Japan matters globally because it is a large importer of energy and food, a major exporter of cars, machinery and electronic components, and the source of enormous outbound investment. Japanese pension funds and insurers hold large amounts of US Treasuries, gilts and European bonds, so the interest rate and currency signals that follow a Japanese GDP surprise can be felt in bond markets well outside Asia.

How is it calculated?

The Economic and Social Research Institute compiles the national accounts using the international System of National Accounts framework, drawing on survey and administrative data covering output, trade, retail sales, corporate accounts, construction and government spending. Figures are seasonally adjusted so that predictable patterns, such as the year-end holiday period or the April start of Japan’s fiscal year, do not distort the quarter-to-quarter comparison.

The first preliminary estimate is published before all source data is available. The main missing piece is the Ministry of Finance’s quarterly survey of corporate statistics, which gives a fuller picture of business capital spending and inventories. When that survey is folded into the second estimate three weeks later, capital expenditure and stock levels are often rewritten, and the headline annualised rate can move by several tenths of a percentage point in either direction. This is why the revision date, such as September 8, 2026, can occasionally be more market-moving than the flash.

Beyond the two quarterly estimates, the Cabinet Office publishes annual benchmark revisions each December, which can reshape the growth path over several years. Anyone comparing a figure quoted in an old news story with the current official series should expect differences: the national accounts are a living dataset, not a fixed record.

What time is it released and where?

Japan GDP is released at 8:50 am Japan Standard Time, ten minutes before the Tokyo cash equity market opens at 9:00 am. In other time zones that is:

• 7:50 pm ET the previous evening in New York (Japan has no daylight saving time, so the gap widens to 6:50 pm ET during the US winter)
• 12:50 am in London
• 9:50 am in Sydney and 7:50 am in Singapore and Hong Kong

The data appears on the Economic and Social Research Institute’s Quarterly Estimates of GDP page in Japanese and English, with the English tables usually posted at the same time as the Japanese release. Figures are embargoed until 8:50 am JST and there is a lock-up arrangement for accredited media, so wire copy and headline numbers hit screens within seconds of the embargo lifting. Japanese officials, including the Cabinet Office minister in charge of economic policy, often comment shortly afterwards.

Recent readings

The most recent published estimate is the first preliminary reading for April to June 2026, released on August 17, 2026: real GDP rose 0.3% on the quarter, an annualised 1.1%. Both figures came in below the consensus, which had pointed to 0.5% on the quarter and 2.0% annualised, according to forecasts reported by CNBC and FXStreet at the time.

Sources: Cabinet Office Economic and Social Research Institute release archive and monthly economic report; contemporaneous reporting by CNBC, FXStreet and Trading Economics. Figures are subject to revision at each second estimate and at the annual benchmark revision, so the numbers above may differ from the current official series. The full official history is on the Cabinet Office site.

What is the consensus forecast?

For the September 8, 2026 revised estimate of Q2 2026 growth, a consensus forecast has not yet been published. Bank and wire service surveys for Japanese GDP revisions are typically circulated in the few days before the release, once the Ministry of Finance corporate survey has been digested. Economists’ attention will centre on whether business capital spending, which fell in the flash reading, is revised up or down, and whether flat private consumption is confirmed.

When forecasts appear, they are usually attributed to polls run by Reuters, surveys of economists by Bloomberg, or the Quick news service in Tokyo. Treat any single number as a central estimate within a range rather than a prediction.

How do markets react?

Because the release lands ten minutes before the Tokyo open, the first move is normally in the yen, in Japanese government bond futures and in Nikkei 225 futures. Four broad channels matter:

• The yen. Stronger than expected growth tends to support the yen, because it raises the chance that the Bank of Japan can keep raising its policy rate. Weak growth tends to weaken the yen against the dollar and the euro. When the Q2 2026 flash missed expectations, USD/JPY was trading around 159.25 shortly afterwards, per FXStreet.
• Japanese government bonds. Growth surprises feed directly into expectations for Bank of Japan policy, so 2-year and 10-year yields often move first and fastest.
• Japanese equities. Exporters can rally on a weaker yen even when the GDP number is poor, which is why the Nikkei sometimes rises on bad growth data. Domestic-facing retailers and banks react more to the consumption and capital spending detail.
• Global spillover. Japanese yields anchor a large pool of global capital. A sharp move in Tokyo can pull US Treasury and gilt yields with it during the Asian session, which is why London and New York traders check the number even though it prints overnight.

Revised estimates are usually less explosive than flash readings, but they are not ignored: a large rewrite of capital expenditure can change the read on corporate confidence and shift Bank of Japan pricing.

What It Means for Your Money

Japan is a long way from most household budgets, yet the chain of effects is real.

• Mortgages and savings outside Japan. Japanese investors are among the largest foreign owners of US, UK and European government bonds. If Japanese growth and inflation justify higher domestic interest rates, Japanese money has less reason to look abroad, which can nudge up long-term borrowing costs elsewhere. Those long-term yields feed into fixed-rate mortgage pricing in the UK and the US.
• The pound, dollar and euro. A stronger yen means a weaker dollar or pound against it, which changes the cost of a holiday in Japan and the price of Japanese-made cars, cameras and machinery. Currency moves also alter the sterling or euro value of any Japanese assets you hold.
• Pensions and investments. Most diversified pension funds and global index funds hold Japanese equities, typically around 5% of a world equity index. Japanese growth data therefore shows up, in a small way, in workplace pension returns. If you hold an unhedged Japan fund, the yen moves matter as much as the share prices.
• Prices and jobs. Japan is a big buyer of imported energy and food and a key link in car and electronics supply chains. Persistent Japanese weakness can soften global demand for commodities, while a very weak yen raises Japanese import costs and can push up prices for goods assembled there.
• Savings rates. For savers in Japan, sustained growth is the precondition for the Bank of Japan lifting rates further, which is what finally moves deposit rates after decades near zero.

None of these channels justifies changing a long-term plan on the basis of one quarterly number. GDP is a backward-looking measure of a period that has already ended, and it gets revised.

Related economic events

• US GDP report: the American equivalent, with three estimates per quarter and its own annualised convention.
• US CPI report: the monthly inflation reading that drives global rate expectations and, indirectly, the yen.
• US jobs report: monthly non-farm payrolls, the single biggest scheduled driver of the dollar against the yen.
• US PCE report: the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next Japan GDP release?

Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the revised second estimate of April to June 2026 growth. The next first preliminary estimate, covering July to September 2026, follows on November 16, 2026.

What time is Japan GDP released?

8:50 am Japan Standard Time, which is 7:50 pm ET the previous evening and 12:50 am in London. Japan does not observe daylight saving time, so the ET and London equivalents shift by an hour during the Northern Hemisphere winter.

How often is Japan GDP published?

Quarterly, but twice for each quarter: a first preliminary estimate about six weeks after the quarter ends and a revised second estimate roughly three weeks later, plus an annual benchmark revision each December.

Where can I find the official release?

On the Economic and Social Research Institute pages of the Cabinet Office website, at esri.cao.go.jp, in both Japanese and English.

How does Japan GDP affect interest rates?

The Bank of Japan weighs growth alongside wages and inflation when setting its policy rate. Sustained growth strengthens the case for higher rates, while weak growth argues for patience, and those expectations show up immediately in Japanese bond yields and the yen.