But the country has still recorded the longest growth streak for 28 years, with eight consecutive quarters of economic growth.

The growth is below the median forecast of 0.9% from economists polled by Reuters.

This expansion followed a revised 2.2% annualised increase in July to September. The economy grew a real 1.6% in the calendar year 2017, the fastest increase since 2013, which saw an expansion of 2.0%.

Last month, Japan pushed back its fiscal targets and said it was expecting a primary budget surplus by 2027, two years later than previously projected.

According to the latest forecasts, the government expects to achieve a primary budget surplus of 800bn yen ($7.23bn) in the fiscal year 2027.