How much do Japanese wholesale companies spend on software, by company size?
SHORT ANSWER
- Japanese wholesale companies invested about ¥358.5 billion in software in calendar year 2020; companies with capital of ¥100 million or more accounted for 83.6% of it.
- Companies with capital under ¥100 million account for 39.6% of sales but only 16.4% of software investment (about ¥58.8 billion).
- Counting all enterprises including sole proprietors, the about 21,000 with 20–99 employees invested roughly ¥1.46 million each in software in 2020 (rough guide); those with 100 or more employees, about ¥72.8 million each.
The numbers
| Employees | Enterprises | Share | Software investment (¥ billion) | Share | Per enterprise (¥ million, rough guide) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–19 | 173,374 | 86.8% | 14.9 | 4.0% | 0.09 |
| 20–99 | 20,620 | 10.3% | 30.2 | 8.1% | 1.46 |
| 100 or more | 4,518 | 2.3% | 328.7 | 87.8% | 72.76 |
| Total | 199,638 | 100% | 374.2 | 100% | — |
Calendar year 2020. Enterprises, including sole proprietors. The original seven employee classes are combined into three. The total includes 1,126 enterprises with only seconded or dispatched workers.
How to read it
Per enterprise is total investment divided by the number of enterprises, so enterprises that made no software investment are included — it is not the average of investing enterprises. The first two answer lines count companies (kaisha) only and group them by capital (83.6% for ¥100 million or more; total ¥358.5 billion). The table counts all enterprises, including sole proprietors, and groups them by number of employees (87.8% for 100 or more; total ¥374.2 billion). The two shares come from different groupings and are not meant to match.
What this data can't tell you
- These are figures for calendar year 2020 and do not show growth since then (for recent plans, see the question on FY2026 investment plans).
- They do not show what was bought — packaged software, cloud services or in-house development.
- They do not show what share of enterprises invested in software.
The full report adds finer capital and employee classes, FY2026 investment plans, and the share and purposes of investment among small and medium-sized enterprises.
Go further with the full report
Japan Wholesale Trade Brief (October 2026)
Market size, IT investment and labor shortage in Japanese wholesale trade, by company size, from official statistics.
Sources
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2021 Economic Census for Business Activity (e-Stat tables 0004006337 and 0004006336), compiled by Shokimap. This page uses API functions from e-Stat, however its contents are not guaranteed by government.