Japan’s economy has dropped off at an annual rate of 27.8 % in April-June amid the covid outbreak. This is by far the worst contraction on record for the Japanese eceonomy as the coronavirus pandemic thrashed consumption and trade, the government data released on Monday stated.
According to the Cabinet office report, the initial seasonlly adjusted real GDP, the total value of goods and services produced in the country, shrank to 7.8 % on a quarter basis, leading negative growth for the third consecutive growth.
When compared, the officials said that the latest figure is considered the largest contraction on record, even dating back to 1955, the earliest point at which the government can track reference values. The comparable data are available since the April-June quarter of 1980.
The world’s third largest economy was already suffering before pandemic due to the U.S.-China trade spat and a 2 percentage point consumption tax hike last year. And amid the pandemic, damage to the economy has widened following the state of emergency declared by the central government in April.
On April 7, the local governments ordered the residents to stay at home and shut the non-essential business under the emergency declaration which was lifted later in May.
Meanwhile, Japan has reported 55,667 confirmed coronavirus cases so far. Out of which, 41,196 people have recovered while 1,099 have lost their lives to the virus.
