March factory output fell at the fastest pace in five months, while retail sales also dropped as businesses struggled with the coronavirus pandemic's sharp hit to overseas and domestic demand.
The global economy could suffer its worst downturn this year since the Great Depression of the 1930s due to a virus-driven collapse of activity, with Japan's economy facing stagnation due to its export dependence and soft domestic consumption.
Official data on Thursday showed factory output slipped 3.7 percent in March from the previous month, a smaller decline than the 5.2 percent drop in a Reuters forecast.