Japan's economy grew more than expected in the second quarter

 Japan's economy, which contracted by 0.9 percent in the first quarter, managed to grow by 0.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to the data released by the Cabinet Office. Economists had expected 0.2 percent growth.

In the second quarter, GDP grew by 1.3 percent compared to the same period last year, despite the state of emergency declared in Tokyo and its surrounding cities due to the coronavirus epidemic, which limited restaurant and store spending.

In the April-June period, Japan's exports grew by 2.9 percent compared to the previous quarter, while the increase in capital expenditures was 1.7 percent. In this period, private expenditures increased by 0.8 percent compared to the previous quarter.

The annualized value of goods and services produced by the country in the quarter improved compared to the 3.7 percent decline seen in the first quarter of the year.

Economists have predicted that the Japanese economy will avoid a contraction in the current quarter as well, but will not recover to pre-pandemic levels before 2022.

Industrial production increased

Japan's industrial production index rose 6.5 percent month on month to 99.6 in June, according to a report by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The annual change in the index was a 23 percent increase.

While the shipping index increased by 19.2 percent on an annual basis, inventories decreased by 5 percent, while the stock ratio decreased by 21.5 percent on an annual basis.

While the shipping index and stock index grew by 4.8 percent and 2.1 percent on a monthly basis, the stock ratio decreased by 0.3 percent compared to May.