(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TOKYO, Dec 10 (KUNA) -- Japan's economy shrank faster than initially estimated in the July-September period, chiefly due to weaker-than-expected corporate investment, the government said Monday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at an annualized 2.5 percent in the third quarter, a downgrade from the preliminary figure of minus 1.2 percent announced last month, according to the Cabinet Office. The decline followed a 3.0-percent expansion in the second quarter, as natural disasters hit personal consumption, corporate investment and export. It marked the steepest contraction since the second quarter of 2014, when GDP plunged 7.3 percent due to sluggish personal spending following a consumption tax hike.
On a quarterly basis, GDP of the world's third-biggest economy slid 0.6 percent in the three months that ended September 30 from the April-June period, compared with the preliminary estimate of a 0.3-percent fall.
Corporate capital spending, a key pillar of domestic demand, fell 2.8 percent from the previous quarter, substantially revised down from a 0.2-percent drop in the previous estimate and posted the worst since the third quarter of 2009.
"GDP decreased temporarily as the natural disasters weighed on exports and consumption. But the Japanese economy continues to be on a track to recovery," a Cabinet Office official told reporters. GDP is the total value of goods and services produced domestically. (end) mk.hb
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