According to Japan's "Sankei Shimbun" report on the 23rd, Japan's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) ranks third in the world after the United States and China, but due to the long-term stagnation of economic development, it may be surpassed by Germany as early as 2023. fell to fourth place in the world.

　　According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Japan, which ranks third in nominal GDP (forecast value) in 2022, will have a nominal GDP of 4.3006 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023, while Germany's will be 4.311 trillion U.S. dollars.

　　According to the forecast of the IMF, even if Japan can barely avoid being overtaken from 2023 to 2027, the GPD (forecast value) gap between Japan and Germany will narrow to about 6.7% by 2023.

Experts warn that if economic stimulus policies are not adopted to improve labor productivity and international competitiveness of enterprises, Japan's GDP will sooner or later be overtaken by Germany.

　　Why use nominal GDP for comparison?

　　Nominal GDP, used to compare the size of economies internationally, is the total value added of goods and services produced domestically.

Compared with real GDP, which excludes the impact of price changes, it is closer to the actual situation of the economy.

　　According to reports, Japan's nominal GDP surpassed that of West Germany during the period of rapid economic growth in 1968, becoming the world's second largest economy after the United States.

However, it was overtaken by China in 2010 and dropped to third place.

　　Japan's trade deficit hits record high in 2022

　　Japan's Ministry of Finance reported on the 19th that Japan's trade deficit will reach 19.97 trillion yen in 2022, a record high of more than 400 billion yen, as the sharp decline in the yen and rising energy and raw material prices push up import costs, offsetting the export growth brought about by the weakening impact of the new crown epidemic. record for the year.

　　The Japan Times reported that the record trade deficit highlighted the fragility of resource-poor Japan's economy, which has to rely on imports to meet domestic demand.

The sharp depreciation of the yen has reduced the country's wealth and exacerbated Japan's economic problems.

　　Since 2022, the United States and other Western economies have continued to raise interest rates in response to inflationary pressures, while the Bank of Japan has been stuck with an ultra-loose monetary policy due to weak domestic demand and weak economic recovery.

Against this backdrop, the yen fell sharply, making it one of the worst-performing major currencies in the world last year.

　　German economy to recover in 2022

　　Preliminary statistics released by the German Federal Statistical Office a few days ago show that after price adjustments, Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) will increase by 1.9% in real terms in 2022 compared with the previous year.

　　The German Federal Statistics Office issued a statement saying that despite many challenges, the German economy will still recover in 2022, with an increase of 0.7% compared with 2019 before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.

　　Data show that the German service industry and manufacturing industry will achieve growth in 2022, but the construction industry will decline due to factors such as shortage of raw materials and skilled labor, and high construction costs.

　　In 2022, German personal consumption expenditures will increase by 4.6%, supporting economic growth; government spending will increase by 1.1%.

After price adjustments, German exports and imports of goods in 2022 will increase by 3.2% and 6.7% respectively compared with the previous year.