The Japanese economy slows down in the third quarter but its performance exceeds expectations.

Data released by the Japanese Prime Minister's Office on Friday morning showed that the Japanese economy experienced a slowdown during the third quarter of the year, as GDP prices recorded the lowest quarterly growth rate in a year and a half.

According to the data, Japan's GDP grew by 0.9% in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis, while the economy was expected to achieve a growth rate of only 0.7%. This reading was much lower than the previous quarter, which saw the economy grow by 2.2%.

On a quarterly basis, Japan's economy grew by 0.2% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter of the year, which was in line with widespread market expectations. The Japanese economy had recorded a growth of 0.5% in the previous quarter, after the reading was revised down from 0.7%.

At the same time, Japan's GDP prices registered a growth of 2.5% in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis, while prices were expected to grow by 2.8%. This reading was much lower than the previous quarter, which recorded a growth of 3.2%, and the reading for the third quarter was the lowest in six quarters.