The government has announced that Japan's economy continued to grow for the eighth consecutive quarter in the October-December period. Gross domestic product in the quarter registered 1.2 percent growth in real terms from the previous quarter, translating to an annualized 4.8 percent. This growth rate exceeds the average market forecast of an annualized 3.8 percent.

The 1.2 percent growth in the last quarter of 2006 represents a sharp increase from the 0.1 percent gain the previous quarter. In nominal terms -- which do not adjust to price changes and thus better correspond to people's real-life perceptions -- the October-December GDP also grew 1.2 percent or an annualized 5 percent.

This is the first time since October-December 2004 that nominal GDP growth has surpassed real GDP growth. For all of 2006, Japan's GDP grew 2.2 percent in real terms, representing the seventh straight year of expansion. In nominal terms, it grew 1.2 percent, representing the third straight year of expansion.