Agriculture

Japan has one of the most developed biotechnology sectors in the world, as evidenced by the high number of patents filed. The number of bio venture start-ups peaked in 2013 and  several foreign firms are now trying to enter the market.

Japan has a severe shortage of arable land, covering only 11.6% of Japan’s total territory. The country’s self-sufficiency rate currently stands at 39%.

Overall Japan has a shrinking agricultural sector, demonstrated by government data showing the number of full-time farmers at 1.7 million in 2014, declining from 2.2 million a decade earlier.

Japan remains one of the world’s largest per-capita importers of food and feed produced using modern biotechnologies.

The Japanese organic food market size for organic packaged food and beverages in Japan in 2017 is US$597.4mn, making it the 13th largest market in the world by value. Organic packaged food and beverages in Japan are expected to have a flat 0% growth in 2018.