日本內閣府公布的數據顯示，經通貨膨脹因素調整后，日本第三季度國內生產總值(GDP)較前一季度下降0.1%，折合成年率為下降0.4%。第二季度GDP修正后較前一季度下降0.9%。雖然日本政府還未正式宣布經濟陷入衰退，但許多經濟學家認為，從技術角度講，經濟連續兩個月收縮就意味著陷入衰退。這也顯示出日本經濟已被拖入美國次級抵押貸款危機引發的漩渦。

President George W. Bush, left, talks with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso during a plenary session on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, in Washington. [Agencies]

Japan's economy, the second largest in the world, slipped into recession in the third quarter as companies slashed investment to weather the financial crisis, official data showed Monday.

Japan's economy contracted by 0.1 percent in the three months to September, after shrinking 0.9 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to a preliminary estimate released by the Cabinet Office.

Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at an annualised rate of 0.4 percent, it estimated.

The latest snapshot of Asia's biggest economy was gloomier than expected. Analysts' forecasts, on average, had been for modest growth of 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Japan joins Germany and Italy on the list of Group of Eight major economies that are officially in recession, which is usually defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

Official figures showed Friday that the eurozone as a whole is also in recession.

The contraction in Japan's economy was mainly the result of a 1.7 percent drop in business investment in the third quarter.

After suffering a series of on-off recessions in the 1990s following the bursting of the economic bubble, Japan had been slowly recovering on the back of brisk exports and business investment.

Corporate profits, however, are now sliding as exports suffer from the global economic slowdown, prompting companies to slash investment in new equipment and factories, which had been a key driver of economic growth.

Analysts see little prospect of a recovery any time soon. The Japanese economy is expected to contract 0.1 percent in 2009, according to the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Japan's Nikkei stock index fell 1.30 percent in opening trade in the wake of the worse-than-expected economic data.

(Agencies)

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）