Japan's GDP grows in the second half to reach pre-pandemic figures

MADRID, 15 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Japan's economy has grown 0.5 percent in the second half compared to the previous quarter, due to the recovery of private consumption after the lifting of the restrictions imposed to combat COVID-19.

Japan, which is the world's third-largest economy, has grown 2.2 percent annually, four tenths below estimates, Cabinet Office data showed on Monday.

Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the country's GDP, has risen 1.1 percent, rising for the third consecutive quarter, as more people dined out and traveled after coronavirus restrictions were lifted. end of March in all covered areas, including Tokyo and Osaka, amid a downward trend in the number of new infections, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Real GDP in the latest quarter totaled 542 trillion yen ($4.1 trillion), surpassing the 540 trillion yen recorded in the October-December 2019 period before the pandemic hit Japan.

Economy Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa has stated that the data shown in this preliminary report indicates that "the world's third largest economy is gradually recovering", according to the aforementioned agency.

For his part, the economist Takeshi Minami of the Norinchukin Research Institute has pointed out, in statements collected by Bloomberg, that "the economy managed to return to its pre-pandemic size, but its rate of recovery has been slower than in other nations" . "I expect growth to continue in the third quarter as well, but it is likely to lose momentum going forward," he warned.