According to the preliminary data, economic growth rate in Japan in the third quarter of 2016 accelerated to 2.2 percent annually, as compared to the 0.7 percent growth seen in the previous quarter.
This was the third quarterly increase in Japan’s GDP in a row. And the growth rate was much better than experts’ forecasts. Economists had expected another 0.9 percent increase on average.
In the third quarter of 2016, Japan’s economy expanded by 0.5 percent as compared with the 0.2 percent increase seen in the second quarter. Experts link the economic growth to a 2 percent rise in exports in the third quarter. From April to June shipments abroad fell by 1.5 percent.
However, low consumer spending and business capital investments offset good export figures.
Consumer spending, which makes up about 60% of Japan’s GDP, and business capital investments stood flat in the given period.
Due to a slowdown in wages growth, the Japanese hesitate to increase their spending, and companies complain that the strong yen reduces competitiveness of the local products and has the negative impact on overseas profits.
