ANKARA

Japan's economy contracted at an annualized pace of 2.1% in the third quarter of this year, much worse than economists' expectations, according to the provisional data on Wednesday.

The figure, shifting from 4.8% year-on-year growth in the second quarter, was the largest contraction in two years, the Cabinet Office data showed.

The market had expected the world's third-largest economy would shrink 0.6% from a year ago in July-September.

Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) also fell 0.5% in the third quarter from the previous three-month period, deeper than economists’ estimate of a 0.1% contraction.

In the second quarter, the Japanese economy had grown 1.2% from the first quarter.