Germany overtakes Japan as third-biggest economy

(ANSA-AFP) - TOKYO, FEB 15 - Once forecast to become the world's biggest economy, Japan slipped below Germany last year to fourth place, official data showed Thursday, although India is projected to leapfrog both later this decade. Despite growing 1.9 percent, Japan's nominal 2023 gross domestic product in dollar terms was $4.2 trillion, government data showed, compared with $4.5 trillion for Germany, according to figures released there last month. The change in positions primarily reflects the sharp fall in the yen against the dollar, which slumped by almost a fifth in 2022 and 2023 against the US currency, including around seven percent last year. This was in part because the Bank of Japan has maintained negative interest rates, unlike other major central banks, which have raised borrowing costs to fight soaring inflation. (ANSA-AFP).