Japan’s economy evades recession, but concerns persist over weak recovery

Japan’s economy managed to dodge a technical recession, as per revised government data released on Monday.

The revised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the October-December period indicated an expansion, although weaker than anticipated, sparking concerns over the slow economic recovery.

According to the Cabinet Office, the revised GDP expanded at an annualised rate of 0.4 per cent, a notable improvement from the initial estimate of a 0.4 per cent contraction.

However, this upward revision fell short of economists’ expectations, with a median forecast predicting a 1.1 per cent uptick in GDP, as revealed by a Reuters poll.

Regardless of the revision, concerns lingered over the dull performance of domestic demand, particularly in consumption, as noted by Saisuke Sakai, senior economist at Mizuho Research and Technologies.