TOKYO:
Japan's economy shrank an annualised 6.8 per cent in the April-June quarter to suffer its biggest contraction since the March 2011 devastating earthquake and tsunami, government data showed on Wednesday, as a sales tax hike took a bigger-than-expected toll on household spending.
The preliminary figure for gross domestic product (GDP) compared with a 7.1 per cent decline forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. It followed a revised 6.1 per cent rise in the first quarter of this year, the Cabinet Office data showed.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy contracted 1.7 per cent in the second quarter after a revised 1.5 per cent increase in the first quarter.
Private consumption, which accounts for about 60 per cent of the economy, decreased 5.0 per cent from the previous quarter, as households withheld spending after an increase in Japan's sales tax to 8 per cent from 5 per cent in April.
External demand added 1.1 per centage point to the economy in the second quarter, the data showed.
Private consumption, which accounts for about 60 per cent of the economy, decreased 5.0 per cent from the previous quarter, as households withheld spending after an increase in Japan's sales tax to 8 per cent from 5 per cent in April.
External demand added 1.1 per centage point to the economy in the second quarter, the data showed.
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