Japan's Q1 GDP shrinks amid US tariff uncertainty

Japan's GDP shrank by 0.2 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter, marking its first contraction in four quarters amid growing uncertainty over US tariff policies.

The revised data, released by the Cabinet Office on Monday, showed an improvement from the initial estimate last month, which had pointed to a steeper 0.7 percent decline.

Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan's economy, was revised upward from zero to a 0.1 percent gain. In addition, the contribution of private inventories to GDP growth was raised from 0.3 to 0.6 percentage points, driven by increased stockpiles of raw materials such as crude oil and natural gas.