Japan's economy grew 1.9 percent last year but was still overtaken by Germany as the world's third-biggest economy primarily because of a sharp fall in the yen, official data showed Thursday.

Japan's nominal 2023 gross domestic product in dollar terms was $4.2 trillion, government data showed, compared to $4.5 trillion for Germany, according to figures revealed last month. Japan's economy shrank 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter.