In 2022, Statistics of Japan still reported around 860,000 housing construction starts. Last year, that figure decreased by another 5% to 820,000. Thus, Japan is now only 32,000 housing construction starts away from the all-time low of 788,000 starts which were recorded in 2009 (Note: Our records began in 2005).
This development is directly linked to Japan’s relatively weak demand for wood. In fact, Japanese imports of various wood products have reached a historical low, as you can see in the Timber-Online articles Laminated timber imports at a long-time low and Japan reduced its lumber imports.
