Given the conspicuous plunge in the revised gross domestic product figure, the methodology used for calculating preliminary GDP will be revised, a senior Cabinet Office official said Thursday.
The major revision Wednesday cut the annualized 4.8 percent expansion announced for the July-September quarter Nov. 16 to an annualized rate of just 1.3 percent in real terms after accounting for weaker corporate capital investment.
The Cabinet Office needs to enhance the reliability of the preliminary GDP data, Cabinet Parliamentary Secretary Keisuke Tsumura said.
"The significant drop came at a time when the government must carefully assess the business situation," he said.
According to the revised figures, the economy grew for a second consecutive quarter after emerging from the worst recession in decades, but more slowly than in the previous quarter.
Tsumura said the range of data used in the preliminary announcement will be expanded to reduce any gaps between preliminary and revised figures.
The office uses capital spending data provided by supply-side companies for the preliminary GDP report and later adds data from a wider range of companies to compile the revised report.