Japan's gross domestic product expanded an annualised 2.7% in January-March, much higher than a preliminary estimate of a 1.6% growth and economists' median forecast for a 1.9% rise.
The January-March expansion translates to a 0.7% quarter-on-quarter rise, data released by the Cabinet Office showed, against a preliminary reading of 0.4% and economists' forecast for a 0.5% increase. Capital spending rose 1.4%, upgraded from 0.9% and roughly in line with Ministry of Finance data last week thatPrivate consumption, which makes up more than half of Japan's GDP, grew 0.5%, revised down slightly from an initial estimate of a 0.6% increase.
Domestic demand as a whole contributed 1.0 percentage point to the revised first-quarter GDP growth, more than initially estimated.