World Cup to boost Japanese economy by $4 billion
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-03-17 08:43

TOKYO (AFP) - The 2006 football World Cup is bringing the Japanese economy a windfall of four billion dollars in television sales, tourism and other spin-off economic activities.

Japan's top advertising agency Dentsu said that if Japan reach the semi-finals or final the total will swell to 4.6 billion dollars as "the excitement induced across the entire country would further magnify the economic impact."

Dentsu's survey showed the World Cup is directly boosting consumer spending in Japan by 224 billion yen (1.9 billion dollars), including 22.6 billion yen already spent on attending qualifying matches at home and abroad.

Of the sum, 93 billion yen will be spent on digital consumer appliances and services such as thin-screen televisions, DVD recorders, personal computers and broadcasting services.

The World Cup is generating sales of food and beverage -- including deliveries of pizza and other foods -- worth 41.4 billion yen and of World Cup commemorative items and other related goods worth 42.7 billion yen, the survey said.

"Furthermore, the direct economic impact through a wide range of component and other purchases shown above are expected to trigger total production increases of 475.9 billion yen (four billion dollars)," it said.

Dentsu said that the 2002 World Cup finals co-hosted by Japan and South Korea boosted domestic consumption by an estimated 848 billion yen. The total economic impact in Japan was estimated at 1.86 trillion yen in 2002.