How’s life in the digital age in Japan?
Unfortunately, data limitations prevent a comprehensive analysis of the opportunities and risks of the digital transformation in Japan. Overall, Japan’s performance in terms of opportunities and risks of the digital transformation is mixed. Figures for ICT access are relatively low compared to other OECD countries, which may partially be explained by differences in methodology. The share of people using the Internet, however, is well above the OECD average, at 95%. Digital skills in Japan are relatively high, with 35% of people scoring at an intermediate level of skills, compared to 30% on average in the OECD. The return on these skills in Japan is substantial: the labour market returns to ICT tasks are the third highest in the OECD. At the same time, Japan’s labour market is relatively exposed to job automation, with 39% of jobs estimated to be at risk. In the area of governance and civic engagement, Japan scores very high in the availability and accessibility of open government data, according to the OECD OURdata Index. Moreover, 17% of people in Japan report having encountered disinformation in the past week, which is well below the OECD average of 27%.
Note: This wheel depicts Japan’s relative performance in terms of key opportunities and risks in the context of the digital transformation. The centre of the wheel corresponds to the lowest outcome observed across all OECD countries, while the outer circle corresponds to the highest outcome. For opportunities (in dark blue) longer bars indicate better outcomes, whereas for risks (in yellow), longer bars indicate worse outcomes. If data are missing for any given indicator, the relevant segment of the circle is shaded in white.