Startup uses satellite images of night lights to predict GDP

Tokyo

NOWCAST Inc, a Japanese financial research and technology startup, has developed a product that estimates economic growth in real time by using satellite images of night-time lights.

Based on algorithms that examine changes in the intensity of illumination, as well as a range of published statistics including industrial production and trade, the Tokyo-based company can accurately forecast changes in gross domestic product (GDP), chief executive officer Ryota Hayashi said in an interview.