From correspondents in Kanto, Japan, 09:00 AM IST

The Japanese economy shrank in the January-March quarter an an annualised rate of 15.2 percent, the sharpest annualised drop ever recorded in what remains the world's second-largest economy, the Tokyo government announced Wednesday.

The pace narrowly exceeded the 14.4 percent annualised rate of contraction in the last three months of 2008.

A steep decline in Japan's exports was the leading cause for the first-quarter performance.

In absolute terms, the Japanese economy was 4 percent smaller on March 31 from Dec 31.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)