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.
