Japan's economy expanded by a revised 0.3% in the last quarter of 2016, government data showed today, as company investment and a weaker yen propped up growth.
The latest GDP figure was marginally higher than an initial estimate of 0.2% growth for the three months from October to December, but lower than market expectations for a 0.4% expansion.
It marked the fourth quarter of expansion in a row in the world's third-largest economy.
For 2016, the Japanese economy grew 1%, unchanged from the initial estimate, after posting 1.2% growth the previous year, the Cabinet Office said.
Government stimulus measures and capital spending were key growth drivers.
A weak yen also helped prop up the economy by driving exports, but inflation and consumer spending remain weak as cautious firms avoid big pay hikes.
Analysts said that the Japanese economy is on track for moderate recovery and they expect the Bank of Japan will keep the current policy for the time being.
Japan's economy contracted in the last three months of 2015, before bouncing back last year although the recovery has been wobbly.
That is putting Japanese officials under increasing pressure as more and more economists write off Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to cement a lasting recovery, dubbed Abenomics.
The plan - a mix of aggressive monetary easing and huge government spending along with reforms to the economy - stoked a stock market rally and fattened corporate profits, but the effect on the wider economy has been less dramatic.
While Japan's job market is tight, individual spending - which accounts for more than a half of the country's GDP - has remained in the deep freeze.
The Bank of Japan, aiming to create 2% inflation as part the growth bid, now expects to reach that goal by March 2019 - four years later than planned.
Government and central bank officials have blamed external factors, such as falling energy prices and uncertainty related to emerging economies, for that failure.
Fresh data for this year have been underwhelming so far, with Japan's factory output unexpectedly slipping 0.8% in January, the first fall in six months.
Japanese consumer prices picked up in January for the first time in almost a year, but a 0.1% rise in a key inflation index remains way off the bank's target.
