Executive Summary
Economy
By facilitating a more convenient and on-demand form of transport and delivery, Uber helps save time, expand mobility, create new business for restaurants and the hospitality industry, and provide flexible earning opportunities for thousands of taxi driver and delivery partners in Japan.
In 2021, Uber unlocked an estimated ¥554 billion in economic value for the Japanese economy . This includes both the impact of earnings of taxi driver-, delivery- and restaurant-partners facilitated by Uber, and the wider indirect and induced multiplier effect created throughout the company's wider supply chain.
In total, in 2021 we estimate that this increased flexibility is worth an estimated ¥18 billion to driver- and delivery-partners.
Consumers
The on-demand economy has helped make everyday life easier for Japanese people- saving time, increasing choice and improving mobility. For consumers, the primary reason for using Uber is convenience.
84% of taxi riders say that convenience is an important reason they use Uber. In a normal year, we estimate that Uber saves riders over 0.9 million hours a year.
64% of Uber Eats users agree that food delivery apps have helped to improve quality of life during the last year while eating out is restricted.
In 2021, we estimate that Uber and Uber Eats produced ¥186 billion in consumer surplus for Japan.
Taxi driver- and delivery-partners
Delivery-partners overwhelmingly choose to use the Uber app because of the flexibility it provides, and the ability to control their own hours. The vast majority report being highly satisfied with their experience, and that Uber has helped them earn additional income.
61% of drivers and delivery people said they were satisfied with their experience using the Uber app. In total, in 2021, we estimate that delivery-partners earn an additional ¥25 bn a year in higher income through Uber, or an average of 28% more than their next best alternative source of income or work.
88% of drivers and delivery people say that schedule flexibility is important to them when looking for work, and on average flexibility was a more important factor than earnings in why delivery-partners choose to work with Uber. In total, in 2021 we estimate that this increased flexibility is worth an estimated ¥18 billion to delivery people.
Restaurant- and Merchant-Partners
Food delivery platforms like Uber Eats have made it easier to access a wide range of good quality food, or access groceries when you can’t leave the house. During the last two years, Uber Eats has helped provide a vital revenue channel to restaurants.
71% of Uber Eats users agree that food delivery apps have made it easier to discover new restaurants, and 64% that they helped improve quality of life when they weren’t allowed to eat out.
In total, we estimate that in 2021 UberEats helped drive ¥49 billion in additional revenue to restaurant-partners in Japan.
Communities
Uber helps provide a safer way to get home late at night, and helps complement public transport by filling in the gaps it can’t reach.
79% of female taxi riders say that safety is an important factor in their choice to use Uber, and 64% of female taxi riders agree that it is now easier to get home late at night.
22% of taxi riders without access to a car said the availability of taxi services like Uber was important to their choice of not owning a vehicle.
In total, we estimate that 1 in 6 Uber trips connect with public transport.
Consumers
How we use Uber
Over the last decade, Uber has increasingly become a part of everyday life. In Japan, Uber offers its Uber Taxi service, which allows consumers to connect with, book and pay for a traditional taxi through the Uber app. From getting home from a restaurant to travelling between meetings, helping carry heavy items to being there in an emergency, the availability of convenient, safe taxi services has become something many Japanese people increasingly rely on.
In our nationally representative poll:
- Uber served 0.4 million customers in Japan in 2019, the year prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
- There was no significant difference in gender in how likely someone was to use the Uber taxi app
Outside the pandemic period in a more normal year, Uber is being widely used to help us get to and from friends and family, eating out and entertainment.
But it is not just being used for leisure. We also found that Uber is being widely used to help with work, everyday chores and childcare.
And Uber is an important option for when you really need to get somewhere fast or on time. On average, riders say Uber taxis save around 22 minutes per trip compared to the next best alternative. Building off this, we estimate that Uber taxis save riders over 0.9 million hours in a normal year.
Why do riders choose Uber taxis?
When we asked riders about the most important reasons why they used Uber, convenience (84%) came top, with other factors such as safety (75%) and time saved (81%) seen just as important as cost (79%).
Which factors tend to be important or unimportant in why you choose to use Uber?
Why do you use Uber? 1
“Because it is very convenient as an alternative to public transportation.” Male customer, 46, from Kansai
“Because I feel that it is a convenient and reliable company.” Female customer, 28, from Kanto
“It is attractive that there is no late night fee and you can use it with confidence.” Female customer, 48, from Kanto
“It is useful because it can be used in situations where you can not drive by yourself, and there is a sense of stability that is the easiest and can be used anywhere.” Male customer, 35, from Kanto
“Convenient, fast to order to home, most reliable.” Female customer, 25, from Tohoku
“If you're not in a place where public transport isn't available, if the nearest public transport station or bus stop is far away, or if you don't have much time to meet up.” Male customer, 65, from Kansai
Uber Eats
With restaurants’ dining rooms often shut in the last couple of years, Japanese consumers have increasingly turned to food delivery platforms such as Uber Eats to keep accessing a wide variety of good quality food locally. Almost half (47%) of food delivery app users say that on average they order using a food delivery app at least once a month, and 64% agree that they’ve helped to improve quality of life while eating out isn’t allowed.
When we asked what the most important reasons Uber Eats users used food delivery apps were, they pointed to reasons from quick delivery times (50%) to a greater variety of food (32%).
Which of the following, if any, are important reasons why you order using food delivery apps? Please select all that apply.
How much value does Uber create for consumers?
How much is the increased convenience, safety and reliability enabled by Uber worth to riders and consumers?
One of the most important measures of economic welfare is the consumer surplus - the amount you would have to pay someone for them to voluntarily give a good or service up. If a good has a zero consumer surplus, that implies we can take or leave it - whereas goods with a high consumer surplus are playing an important role in our lives.
As part of their poll, we asked riders and consumers how much they would have to be compensated to lose access to the Uber app for the next month.
In total, in 2021 we estimate that rides with Uber are producing ¥7 billion in consumer surplus for Japanese riders, while Uber Eats is producing another ¥179 billion in consumer surplus. Together, that’s the equivalent of 0.03% of GDP.
Delivery-Partners
Delivery-partners are highly satisfied with the experience of using Uber
In our survey:
In total, in 2021, we estimate that taxi driver-partners earn an additional ¥3 bn a year in higher income through Uber, or an average of 28% more than their next best alternative.
When we asked delivery-partners what were important reasons they chose to deliver through the Uber app, the most popular answers were wanting more schedule flexibility, enjoyed driving, and the ability to interact with customers or restaurant-partners.
If they weren’t delivery-partners with Uber, the majority say they would look for another, similar delivery role. Just 15% say that they would look for a traditional full-time job as a replacement, while:
The Importance of Access to Flexible Work
When we asked delivery people what they most liked about using Uber to drive, time was by far the leading response.
In your own words, what do you like most about driving for Uber?
The ability to choose your own hours is often particularly important to delivery-partners. Many delivery-partners balance their time on the Uber app with jobs, platform work, education or caring responsibilities. In our Delivery survey, 88% of delivery-partners say that schedule flexibility is important to them when looking for work, and on average flexibility was a more important factor than earnings in why delivery-partners choose to work with Uber. Only a minority said that using Uber was their only source of income.
In order to test its importance, we asked delivery-partners whether they would prefer a hypothetical situation in which they received higher earnings, but had to work fixed hours. In total, in 2021 we estimate that this increased flexibility is worth ¥18 bn to delivery-partners.
Flexibility matters for many reasons. 78% of delivery-partners say that they earn income from other sources, as well as via the Uber app - 16% have a traditional full-time job too - and it is only a small minority of taxi driver- and delivery-partners who use the platform more than 40 hours a week.
Flexibility can be particularly important for those with other caring responsibilities for children, elderly relatives or others who need support:
- 86% of those with children aged 18 or under or caring responsibilities said that the flexibility provided by app-based work made it easier to balance family and work responsibilities.
- 88% of those with children aged 18 or under or caring responsibilities said that working via the Uber platform provides them with significantly more flexibility than their past jobs.
What do you like most about driving with Uber? 2
“I was able to visit various restaurants, and I found a shop that I would like to visit personally.” Male driver-partner, 49, from Kanto
“Is a place where you can start at any time and end at any time.” Male driver-partner, 35, from Kanto
“I simply like motorcycles and bicycles and I can make money with it. So it's easy to do because I feel comfortable doing it.” Male driver-partner, 22, from Kansai
“I feel rewarded when customers say thank you or when people in the store thank me.” Male driver-partner, 25, from Chugoku
“You can start at any time and stop at any time you like. You can meet a new shop.” Male driver-partner, 57, from Kanto
Restaurant- and Merchant-Partners
By making it more convenient to order from a wide range of restaurants, food delivery apps have significantly increased the amount of everyday groceries customers order for delivery:
15% of Uber Eats users say that the availability of food delivery apps has significantly increased the amount of food they order. An independent estimate from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic found that the availability of food delivery services can increase restaurant sales by 30-50%. 3
In total, we estimate that in 2021 Uber Eats by itself created ¥49 billion in additional value for restaurant- and merchant-partners in Japan and a gross impact of ¥543 billion for the Japanese economy as a whole.
Communities
Keeping communities safe
After they have enjoyed a good evening out, many people can be anxious about travelling home in the dark. In our polling, 51% of women under 35 said they generally feel unsafe travelling home at night. Before Uber taxis, it could be difficult, if not impossible, to find a regular taxi at the end of a night out - and taking public transport could require a long walk in the dark to your front door, or waiting alone at a bus stop.
In our polling, over half of female riders (53%) agreed that Uber is often the safest way for them to travel home.
Sustainability
Decarbonizing transport is one of the most important steps for countries to achieve net zero emissions, with the sector responsible for around a fifth of global CO2 emissions.4 Cities are concentrated sites of carbon emissions, accounting for ~70% of all emissions globally.
Easy access to reliable, convenient and affordable taxis can help fill in any gaps in the services offered by public transit, making it easier to get around and reducing the need to own your own car. In our polling, 22% of riders without access to a car said the availability of ridesharing platforms like Uber was important to their choice of not owning a vehicle.
Almost nobody relies exclusively on taxis to travel around an area - instead they form an important complement for public transport, covering those journeys for which other modes of transport could be less convenient or take too long.
Appendix - Methodology
Consumer Surplus
Following the methodology of Brynjolfsson, Collis and Eggers (2019), we asked riders and Uber Eats users a single discrete binary choice question in the form:
“Now imagine you had to choose between the following options. Would you prefer to keep access to [Uber Taxi /Uber Eats] or go without access to [Uber Taxi/Uber Eats] for one month and get paid ¥X?”
The price offered was randomised between ¥1.25, ¥2.50, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, ¥50, ¥100, ¥200, and ¥500.
We then computed both a linear and logarithmic regression of the results of this poll to derive a demand curve and the total consumer surplus per user, taking the average as the headline measure.
Time Saved
As part of our polling, we asked riders for the duration of their most recent trip with Uber, and how long the next best alternative would have taken. We then used the difference to estimate time saved per trip, multiplying by Uber provided data on total number of annual trips by region to estimate total time saved per year. We then calculated the monetary value of this using average hourly salary.
Gross Increase in Driver-Partner Income
Gross Driver-Partner Income is calculated from proprietary data provided by Uber on total Uber taxi driver- and delivery-partner payouts and the number of Uber Taxi driver- and delivery-partners partnering with Uber by region.
Value of Flexibility
As part of the delivery-partner survey, we asked the following single discrete binary choice question:
“Imagine you had to choose between one of the following two options:
- Fixed schedule but MORE consistent weekly earnings at X% [lower/higher] level than you do now
- Flexibility to choose your own hours, but earning only the same amount per hour that you do now
Which would you choose?”
X was randomised between 5%, 10%, and 20%. We then used a probit and logit regression to derive a demand curve, and the total delivery-partner surplus per user, averaging the results of the two models. This model was conditional on both driver-partner type (delivery-partner) and location. This was then scaled up to a national level and regional level by data provided by Uber on delivery-partner numbers.
Impact on Restaurant- and Merchant-Partners
The model utilises Uber’s internal data on the total payout to restaurant- and merchant-partners via Uber Eats. For restaurants we estimate the proportion that is additional using the average of:
- The self-reported estimate from the consumer polling of how much spend is additional, and would not have been ordered if food delivery apps did not exist.
- The midpoint of Collison (2020)’s estimated range of the proportion of dollars spent on food delivery apps that are incremental.5
Following standard input-output methodology, we used the latest OECD detailed multipliers , to calculate Type 1 and Type 2 output multipliers for restaurants and merchants in Japan. These multipliers are used to show the total impact via restaurant- and merchant-partners that Uber Eats has on the economy.
Total Economic Impact
Total economic impact is calculated as the sum of:
- Uber Taxi driver-partner payouts.
- Induced impact of additional Uber Taxi driver income.
- Indirect and induced impact of restaurant spending via Uber Eats.
This measure is a gross estimate, looking at the total amount of economic activity supported by Uber in Japan. It does not attempt to measure what would happen in a hypothetical where Uber no longer existed. Our modelling does not include the impact of Uber's direct investment or employment footprint as a company, or any spillover effect this has to the wider tech ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Report
- New nationally representative polls of approximately 1,000 consumers in each country, run by Public First.
- A new survey of driver and delivery people for each country, reaching over 7,000 drivers and delivery people in total. While Uber invited drivers and delivery people to complete the survey, the actual data was hosted by Public First, with individual level data kept anonymous and not shared back with Uber.
- Internal data provided by Uber on the number of drivers, driver payouts, restaurant/merchant payouts, and hours worked in each country.
Measuring Uber’s Economic Impact
- Payments to drivers, delivery people and restaurants
- Indirect and induced impact of driver and delivery person spending on vehicles (eg estimated car rental, insurance, fuel, running costs etc)
- Induced impact of additional driver and delivery person income
- Indirect and induced impact of restaurant spending via Uber Eats
We do not include the impact of any direct investment from Uber in each territory (eg its offices, employees etc).
The aim of GVA is to try and take account of the additional value created by a company and organisation - the value added - on top of the value of the raw materials and inputs it takes in.
- The indirect impact looks at the impact of an organisation’s procurement and supply chain - in this case, for example, driver spending on vehicles or restaurant spending on food and kitchen supplies.
- The induced impact looks at the impact of the wages of a business and its supply chains employees, and how their spending supports other businesses. In this case, we are looking at the impact of spending of drivers and delivery people, as well as the wider supply chain.
Other Estimates in the Report
In order to do this, we took the data Uber provided us on the total level of payouts for restaurants and merchants per territory, and then estimated the proportion that was additional based on averaging two sources:
- The average self-reported proportion from this question in our polling in each country: In your experience, how has the availability of food delivery apps affected the amount of food you order for delivery?
- The incremental spend for restaurants calculated in Collison (2020)
“If Uber did not exist, how much do you think you would be likely to earn per week in your next best alternative?”
“Imagine you had to choose between one of the following two options:
- Fixed schedule but MORE consistent weekly earnings at X% [lower/higher] level than you do now
- Flexibility to choose your own hours, but earning only the same amount per hour that you do now
One way to think of this is that most goods in the market charge the same price to all or a group of customers - but they are not likely to create equal amounts of value. The price you pay for something is likely to be at least equal to the minimum value it creates for you - or you would not have chosen to buy it - but there is no reason the value it creates can not be significantly more than this. By totalling the surplus consumer value, we produce a measure called the consumer surplus.
Following the methodology of Brynjolfsson, Collis and Eggers (2019), we asked riders and Uber Eats users a single discrete binary choice question in the form:
“Now imagine you had to choose between the following options. Would you prefer to keep access to [Uber for rideshare/Uber Eats] or go without access to [Uber for rideshare/Uber Eats] for one month and get paid $X?”
The price offered was randomised between $1.25, $2.50, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $200, and $500, or a local equivalent with similarly valued price points.
We then computed both a linear and logarithmic regression of the results of this poll to derive a demand curve and the total consumer surplus per user, taking the average as the headline measure.
We then used the difference to estimate time saved per trip, multiplying by Uber provided data on total number of annual trips by region to estimate total time saved per year.
- Quotes have been edited for spelling and grammar, but are otherwise unchanged.
- Quotes have been edited for spelling and grammar, but are otherwise unchanged.
- The Impact of Online Food Delivery Services on Restaurant Sales, Jack Collison, 2020, https://web.stanford.edu/~leinav/teaching/Collison.pdf
- https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-transport
- https://web.stanford.edu/~leinav/teaching/Collison.pdf