Recent data hints at the likely severity of the hit to the current quarter’s growth. Visitors to Japan in March dropped by 93 percent year-on-year to just over 190,000 people, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. April’s consumer confidence index plummeted to a lower reading than in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis or the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown. Exports dropped by more than one-fifth in the first 20 days of the month alone. A monthly survey of economic watchers reached a historic low, concluding that “the already extremely severe economic conditions due to the impact of the coronavirus will worsen further.”

Source: New York Times May 17, 2020 23:48 UTC