The first preliminary estimate of the real GDP growth rate for the October-December quarter of 2014 – which was released in February 2015 – was 2.2 percent on an annualized quarter-on-quarter basis, and thus turned positive for the first time in three quarters.
Industrial production also has turned positive in the October-December quarter on a quarter-on-quarter basis for the first time in three quarters, and recently recovered to the level of the peak prior to the consumption tax hike in April 2014.