Japan has lost its position as the third-largest economy in the world to Germany following the shrinking of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a second successive time in the fourth quarter of 2023, government data released on Thursday reveals, forcing the Asian nation into an unanticipated recession.
 |
| Tokyo, Capital City of Japan. Photo: Getty Images |
According to American Business Magazine, Forbes, via its official website, forbes.com:
Preliminary data released by the Japanese Cabinet Office showed that Japan’s GDP fell an annualized 0.4% in the October-December quarter—the second straight quarter of decline after a 3.3% annualized drop in the previous three-month period.
Private consumption, which makes up for more than half of Japan’s economic activity, shrunk by 0.2% in the fourth quarter as households tightened discretionary spending due to spiraling living costs.
With a nominal GDP of $4.2 trillion in 2023, Japan’s economy is now smaller (in U.S. dollar terms) than Germany’s $4.4 trillion, despite the latter’s economy shrinking 0.3% last year.
