Japan slips into recession, loses third-largest economy title to Germany

In a surprising turn of events, Japan slipped into recession toward the end of 2023, causing it to lose its spot as world's third-largest economy to Germany. Japan's GDP contracted by an annualized 0.4% during the October-December period, coming after a 3.3% decline in previous quarter. This development has led to uncertainty about when Japan's central bank will start to phase out its long-standing 'ultra-loose' monetary policy. Last month, Germany's GDP was $4.5 trillion while Japan's stood at $4.2 trillion.