Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry recently reported that the country’s GDP rose by 0.3% in quarterly terms, higher than expectations of 0.2% and after contracting by 1 percent. In yearly terms, the GDP rose by 1.3%, higher than expectations of 0.7% and after contracting by 3.7%.
The preliminary GDP deflator stood at -0.7%, below expectations of -0.4% and the previous month’s 0.1%.
Industrial production also rose more than expected, gaining 23% annualized after rising by 22.6% in the previous period. Expectations were of a 22.6% increase. In monthly terms, industrial production rose by 6.5%, higher than expectations of 6.2% the previous period’s 6.2%.
"I have very mixed feelings about this GDP result," commented Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura after the release of the data. "Our priority is to prevent the spread of the virus. It's very bad for the economy for this situation to drag on.”
Despite growing more than expected, Japan's economy has underperformed that of other advanced countries.
Japan's economy had suffered during the first quarter of this year mainly due to a decline in personal consumption, which is linked to the state of emergency in Tokyo and the metropolitan area.
The country continues struggling with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,144,546 cases have been reported in Japan, including 15,408 deaths. So far, 108 million vaccine dosages have been distributed among the local population, with 46.4 million individuals now fully vaccinated, which account for about 36.8% of the total population.
The number of cases has been increasing significantly, with approximately 18,000 cases a day being reported. Health experts claim that the country is now facing a disaster and are requesting the government to take immediate action. Most of the infections are caused by the delta variant of the virus, which is believed to be more transmissible than other strains.
By 11:19 GMT, the Japanese yen gained 0.20% against the US dollar, hitting the 0.914200 level.