Japan's economy grew better than the first estimate, recording its fastest growth since 2016, driven by large capital spending in the second quarter of the year, despite global trade tensions and a series of natural disasters that hit the country recently.
GDP grew by 3% on yearly basis in the second quarter of 2018, better than the 2.6% growth forecast, marking the fastest growth since the first quarter of 2016. The preliminary reading indicated growth of 1.9%.
Capital spending grew by 3.1% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, which is the fastest increase since the beginning of 2015 against expectations of growth of 2.8%. At the same time, private consumption, which represents about 60% of GDP, grew by 0.7% in the second quarter.
