Japan’s economy shrank in the three months to September, official data showed Wednesday, after a string of natural disasters hit consumer spending and exports. Gross domestic product for the July-September period contracted 0.
Japan’s economy shrank in the three months to September, official data showed Wednesday, after a string of natural disasters hit consumer spending and exports.
Gross domestic product for the July-September period contracted 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, reversing growth of 0.8 percent in the April-June quarter, according to the government’s Cabinet Office.
A number of natural disasters dampened personal consumption, company investment and exports, said Katsunori Kitakura, lead strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.
“Natural disasters forced consumers to stay indoors and halted factory operations, which led to a slowdown in production and investment activities,” he said in a commentary ahead of the data release.
