Japan's economy grew an annualised real 1.3 per cent in the July-September quarter, much slower than an initially reported 4.8 per cent expansion, the government said today.
It is the largest downward revision in Japan's gross domestic product since the April-June quarter of 2002 when the Cabinet Office began releasing data in the current standard.
The latest GDP readings showed that the world's second-largest economy continued to grow for the second consecutive quarter following its worst recession in decades, but the pace of its recovery slowed from the April-June quarter.
"The latest data showed anew that companies remain reluctant to make fresh capital investment," Keisuke Tsumura, parliamentary secretary of the Cabinet Office, said at a press conference.
"When releasing the preliminary figures, I commented with hope that a path for domestic demand-led recovery may have emerged, but now we need to reexamine that," Tsumura said.
The Cabinet Office said GDP expanded 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter through June in real terms, revised downward from a 1.2 per cent rise initially reported on November 16.
Quarter-on-quarter, capital investment fell 2.8 per cent instead of a preliminary 1.6 per cent rise, as the office reexamined preliminary figures after incorporating newly available data.
