Japan third-quarter GDP revised down to +0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy grew at an annualised rate of 1.3 percent in the July-September quarter, revised down from a preliminary reading of 2.2 percent annualised growth, Cabinet Office data showed on Thursday.

The revised figure compares with the median estimate for a 2.4 percent annualised growth in a Reuters poll of economists.

The figure translates into quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.3 percent, versus a preliminary reading of 0.5 percent growth and the median estimate for 0.6 percent growth.

The government adopted a new base year for calculating gross domestic product that led to changes in previous data and made forecasting revised third-quarter GDP more difficult, economists said.

The new calculation method, which will include research and development in capital expenditure for the first time, has been applied to GDP data going back to 1994.

To view the full tables, go to the Cabinet Office's website:

http://www.esri.cao.go.jp/en/sna/sokuhou/sokuhou_top.html

(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)