Japan GDP to shrink 22% in Q2 in biggest postwar drop: forecast

Coronavirus spurs spending retreat by consumers and businesses

20200430N Marunouchi

Commuters walk through Tokyo's Marunouchi business district. (Photo by Makoto Okada)

TOMOHIRO EBUCHI, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Japan's economy is expected to contract by an annualized 21.7% during the April-June quarter, its worst showing since the end of World War II, as the coronavirus crisis sends business and consumer activity into an unprecedented stall, a Nikkei survey shows

The forecast for real gross domestic product, an average of projections from 16 private-sector economists, shows Japan faring worse than during the global financial crisis of 2008-09, when GDP sank 17.8% in the worst quarter.

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