Japan slips to the world’s fourth-largest economy, behind the US, China and now Germany

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has slipped to the world’s fourth-largest economy as government data showed it fell behind the size of Germany’s in 2023. The numbers highlight how the Japanese economy has gradually lost its competitiveness and productivity while the population shrinks as Japanese people age and have fewer children, analysts say. Japan fell from second to third in 2010 as China’s economy grew. Japan’s nominal GDP totaled $4.2 trillion last year, while Germany’s was $4.4 trillion, or $4.5 trillion, depending on the currency conversion. The data released Thursday also showed the Japanese economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.4% in the last quarter and the year’s real GDP grew 1.9% from the previous year.