Japan's Q2 GDP shrinks annualised 1.6%, first slump since recession in 2014

Japan's economy shrank at an annualised pace of 1.6 per cent in the April-June period, contracting for the first time in three quarters on weak exports and consumer spending, government data showed on Monday.

PHOTO: REUTERS

AUG 17, 20158:01 AM

[TOKYO] Japan's economy shrank at an annualised pace of 1.6 per cent in the April-June period, contracting for the first time in three quarters on weak exports and consumer spending, government data showed on Monday.

The preliminary reading for gross domestic product compared with the median estimate of a 1.9 per cent contraction in a Reuters poll of economists. It followed a revised 4.5 per cent expansion in the first quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP contracted 0.4 per cent in April-June, versus a 0.5 per cent contraction expected by economists.

REUTERS