(See Figure 3.) The growth rate for service production and the total retail sales of consumer goods in December fell compared to the preceding month, but this was because of a reaction to the rise in December of the previous year compared to the preceding month, and the upturn trend is considered to remain unchanged. [...] Added to this downward pressure were negative factors such as the aftereffects of the zero COVID policy, the decline in investor confidence due to the common prosperity policy, the prolonged stagnation of the real-estate market, the acceleration of the drop in the birthrate and the aging of the population, and U. [...] As the above comparison with the preceding quarter indicates, since the growth in export volumes was large and that in import volumes was small, the degree of contribution of external demand to the real GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of 5.2% y/y was -0.2% y/y, shrinking the negative contribution that lowered the GDP growth rate compared to the preceding quarter (-0.8% y/y) (Figure 6). [...] (See Figure 12.) A look at changes in the number of cities out of the 70 major ones which saw the selling prices of houses rise compared to the preceding month indicates that the downturn trend was not stemmed after April, and that in November, none of the cities saw prices rise (with the prices remaining almost on the same level in Hangzhou) and in December, all cities saw prices fall. [...] This represents the effects of the reaction to the slowdown of substantial growth from the third quarter of the last year (+3.5%y/y) to the fourth quarter of the last year (-2.7% y/y) and does not mean that the real momentum of consumption grew rapidly.
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- 20
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- Japan
