[ti:Japan Loses Its Spot as World’s Third-largest Economy]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Japan's economy has dropped
[00:02.20]to the fourth largest in the world.
[00:04.96]It fell behind Germany
[00:07.40]after its economy shrank
[00:09.44]in the last quarter of 2023.
[00:13.44]The Japanese government reported Thursday
[00:16.40]the economy shrank at an annual rate
[00:19.20]of 0.4 percent in October to December.
[00:24.96]It shrunk 2.9 percent from July to September.
[00:29.32]Two straight quarters of shrinkage
[00:31.88]are considered a sign
[00:33.36]that an economy is in a recession.
[00:37.80]Real gross domestic product is a measure of
[00:41.12]the value of a nation's products and services.
[00:44.88]The yearly rate measures
[00:46.88]what would have happened
[00:48.08]if the quarterly rate lasted a year.
[00:52.20]Japan's economy was the second largest
[00:55.36]until 2010, when it was overtaken by China's.
[00:59.60]It had been the third-largest economy
[01:02.88]until it fell behind Germany.
[01:06.92]Japan's nominal GDP totaled $4.2 trillion last year.
[01:12.72]Germany's was between $4.4 and $4.5 trillion.
[01:19.64]Real GDP takes into account inflation,
[01:22.84]while nominal GDP does not.
[01:26.60]A weaker Japanese yen was a major reason
[01:30.08]for the drop to fourth place.
[01:32.08]But economists say the drop is also
[01:35.52]due to a decline in its population
[01:38.16]and slowing productivity and competitiveness.
[01:42.72]In the past, Japan was described
[01:45.40]as a "an economic miracle."
[01:48.12]After much of the country
[01:49.64]was destroyed in World War II,
[01:51.88]it became the second-largest economy
[01:54.52]after the United States.
[01:56.32]It continued to see strong growth
[01:59.20]in the 1970s and 1980s.
[02:01.96]But in the last 30 years,
[02:04.52]the economy has grown only moderately at times.
[02:09.40]Both the Japanese and German economies
[02:12.48]are powered by strong small-
[02:14.64]and medium-size businesses with strong productivity.
[02:20.12]Germany's economy has gotten very strong
[02:23.52]in the past 20 years.
[02:25.44]It has led worldwide markets
[02:28.24]for high-end products like luxury cars
[02:31.44]and industrial machinery.
[02:34.48]It has sold so much to the rest of the world
[02:37.76]that half its economy ran on exports.
[02:41.92]But Germany's economy also shrank
[02:44.92]in the last quarter, by 0.3 percent.
[02:50.68]Japan's population has been shrinking
[02:53.52]and aging for many years.
[02:55.56]It has few foreign residents.
[02:58.56]Germany's population has grown to nearly 85 million.
[03:03.16]Immigration helped to make up
[03:05.92]for a low birth rate in Germany.
[03:09.52]Immigration is one way
[03:11.36]to solve Japan's labor shortage problem.
[03:14.32]But the country has been somewhat
[03:16.80]unaccepting of foreign labor.
[03:20.40]Another reason for Japan's slow growth
[03:23.28]is stagnating wages.
[03:25.44]People have less money to spend.
[03:28.48]At the same time, businesses
[03:30.88]have invested heavily in foreign economies
[03:33.96]instead of Japan's aging and shrinking market.
[03:37.76]I'm Dan Novak. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM