Japan's Q1 GDP Annualized Decline Confirmed at 3.9%, Revised Up from Preliminary Estimate

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Bloomberg News reported on the 8th that Japan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of this year was finalized at a 3.9% decrease on an annualized basis.

On the same day, Japan's Cabinet Office announced the finalized GDP figure for the first quarter, which was revised upward from the preliminary GDP figure released last month. The preliminary GDP figure for the first quarter was a 5.1% decrease on an annualized basis.

Bloomberg stated that the finalized first-quarter GDP decrease of 3.9% exceeded analysts' expectations of a 5.0% decrease.

The first-quarter GDP decreased by 1.0% compared to the previous quarter. This was also revised upward from the earlier preliminary figure of a 1.3% decrease and exceeded the expected 1.2% decrease.

Thus, Japan's GDP recorded negative growth again after three quarters since emerging from the recession in the third quarter of last year. With the continued spread of COVID-19 and lockdown measures, the Japanese economy is once again facing a recession risk.

Economist Masujima Yuki said, "Due to COVID-19 related lockdown measures, GDP is expected to continue decreasing in the second quarter," adding, "It appears that the Japanese economy is heading back into a recession phase."

Private consumption and corporate investment in the first quarter decreased by 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter. Due to sluggish exports, exports of goods and services lowered the GDP growth rate by 0.2 percentage points. On the other hand, inventories contributed a 0.4 percentage point increase to GDP.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.