People walk on Shibuya crossing in Tokyo on May 7, 2021, during a coronavirus state of emergency covering Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo regions. (YUKI IWAMURA / AFP)

TOKYO -- Japan's gross domestic product in fiscal year 2020 shrank 4.6 percent in real terms, down for the second straight year, government statistics revealed Tuesday.

The previous record decrease was a 3.6-percent shrinkage in fiscal 2008 marked in the wake of the global financial crisis

The figure logged the largest annual contraction on record since data began to be compiled in fiscal 1955, according to the preliminary data released by the Cabinet Office.

The previous record decrease was a 3.6-percent shrinkage in fiscal 2008 marked in the wake of the global financial crisis.

READ MORE: HK Q1 GDP up 7.9% after 6 straight quarters of decline

Meanwhile, government statistics showed the country's economy in the January-March period contracted an annualized real 5.1 percent compared to the previous quarter, the first shrinkage in three quarters, due to a second state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decrease in real GDP, the total value of goods and services produced in the country adjusted for inflation, corresponds to a 1.3-percent contraction on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, government data showed.

The decline was mainly due to a 1.4 percent drop in private consumption as state of emergency curbs to combat the pandemic hit spending for clothing and dine-outs, the data showed.

But the bigger-than-expected contraction also reflected a surprise 1.4 percent drop in capital expenditure, which confounded

market expectations for a 1.1 percent increase as companies scaled back spending on equipment for machinery and cars.

Domestic demand knocked 1.1 percent point off gross domestic product (GDP), while net exports shaved off 0.2 point, the data

showed

While exports grew 2.3 percent thanks to a rebound in global demand for cars and electronics, the pace of increase slowed sharply from the previous quarter's 11.7 percent gain in a worrying sign for an economy still reeling from weak domestic demand.

Domestic demand knocked 1.1 percent point off gross domestic product (GDP), while net exports shaved off 0.2 point, the data

showed.

"That domestic demand is weak shows the adverse effects from the coronavirus haven't been shaken off at all," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

"There's no service and inbound spending currently, so it can't be helped that there will be a reliance on foreign demand."

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Amid a resurgence of COVID-19 infections since November, the government declared the second state of emergency in early January for the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was expanded it to 11 out of Japan's 47 prefectures within a week before it was fully lifted in late March.

The emergency state requiring people to stay at home and restaurants and bars to shorten opening hours led to a sharp drop of 1.4 percent in private consumption.