Japan's industrial production plunged by a record 15.3 percent in March as the Great East Japan Earthquake slashed output at automakers and other manufacturers.
Japan's industrial production plunged by a record 15.3 percent in March as the Great East Japan Earthquake slashed output at automakers and other manufacturers.
The index of industrial production fell to 82.9 for the first decline in five months, according to a preliminary report released April 28.
The industry ministry downgraded its assessment of industrial production for the first time since September 2010, although it said production is expected to recover.
The margin of decline was the largest since February 1953, when the government began compiling comparable statistics.
The previous largest decline was 8.6 percent recorded in February 2009 amid the global financial crisis triggered by the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.
The industrial production index for companies in the nine quake-affected prefectures in the Tohoku and Kanto regions plunged 31.9 percent from February.
The index for companies outside the nine prefectures also fell 13.5 percent due to stalled parts supplies from the quake-hit areas and rolling blackouts in the region served by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
By industry, the production index for the transport equipment industry nose-dived 46.4 percent as automakers were forced to temporarily shut down all domestic factories.
The index for the general machinery industry, which includes producers of chipmaking equipment, fell 14.4 percent, while that for the chemical industry dropped 11.4 percent.