Fall in rank below Germany has been attributed to a weak yen and country’s ageing, shrinking population

Japan has been eclipsed by Germany as the world’s third-biggest economy and has slipped into recession, according to data released Thursday, as the country battles a weak yen and an ageing, shrinking population.

Japan’s economy, now the world’s fourth-biggest, grew 1.9% in 2023 in nominal terms – meaning it is not adjusted for inflation – but in dollar terms its gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $4.2tn compared with $4.5tn for Germany.

The shift, coming more than a decade after it ceded second place to China, has been attributed to the yen’s sharp falls against the dollar over the past two years. A weaker yen eats into profits on exports when earnings are repatriated. The Japanese currency dropped by almost a fifth against the US dollar in 2022 and 2023, including a 7% fall last year.

  • Dagnet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    10 months ago

    I live in the city with the most japanese descendants outside of japan, Im half japanese myself. A lot of japanese here went back to Japan (and yes, they knew how to speak japanese) only to be met with xenophobia. Im talking full blooded japanese people, only reason they were rejected was because they were born in Brazil. You somehow seem to know more than me in the subject, I sure hope its from first hand experience if you are claiming those things.