Japan’s Economy Grew Slower Than Expected in Q2

• Japan’s GDP grew by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2024, down from the 0.8% initially estimated.
• Household spending and business investment were lower than forecasted, contributing to the downward revision.
• Despite the slowdown, it was still the fastest economic growth Japan had seen in the past year.

Tokyo, 10 September (FinanceFlashNews) – Japan’s economic growth in the second quarter of 2024 was weaker than initially estimated, according to a report from Reuters, citing data from RTTNews and tradingeconomics. Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter, slightly missing the 0.8% growth forecasted by economists and reported in a preliminary estimate in mid-August.

The revision was primarily driven by weaker-than-expected household spending and business investments. Household spending grew by 0.9%, compared to the original estimate of 1%, and business investment increased by 0.8%, down from the anticipated 0.9%.

Government spending confirmed earlier estimates, rising by 0.1%, although this represented a slowdown from the 0.3% growth seen in the first quarter.

Japan’s foreign trade offered little support to the economy in the second quarter, with exports growing by 1.5% but imports increasing even faster, by 1.7%.

Despite the downward revision, Japan’s second-quarter economic growth remained the strongest since the second quarter of 2023, which also saw a 0.7% quarterly increase in GDP.

On an annualized basis, growth slowed from an initially reported 3.1% to 2.9%, falling short of economists’ expectations of 3.2%.

Japan Q2 Economic Growth Data

Keywords: Japan GDP, economic growth, household spending, business investment, foreign trade