Japan’s GDP fell 7.8% during the second quarter
The world's third largest economy suffered a major decline during this period, something that had not been seen since 1980
Japan’s economy suffered an unprecedented contraction between April and June, registering a 7.8% drop in gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the first quarter of the year, when it had fallen by 0.6%, representing the largest loss of activity for the entire historical series, dating back to 1980.
Thus, the world’s third largest economy extends the recession to three consecutive quarters, after registering a 0.6% contraction in the first three months of 2020 and a 1.8% decline in the last quarter of 2019.
Compared to the second quarter of 2019, Japan’s GDP fell 9.9%. Also, in annualized terms, the contraction of the Japanese GDP between April and June was 27.8%.
Among the factors that explain the collapse of Japan’s GDP in the second quarter, the consumption of Japanese households, the engine of the country’s economy, registered a drop of 8.2% between April and June compared to the previous three months, when it had already decreased by 0.8%. On his side, public spending remained stable, in line with the previous three months.
Likewise, gross fixed capital formation by companies in Japan experienced a quarterly decline of 0.7%, after having increased by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2020.
On the other hand, exports from Japan registered a fall of 18.5% in the second quarter, after falling by 5.4% in the previous three months, while imports fell by 0.5%, after having fallen by 4.2% in the first quarter.
K. Tovar
Source: dpa
