TOKYO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan's economy shrunk at an annualized rate of 0.6 percent in the January-March quarter, contracting for the first time in nine quarters, government data showed Wednesday.

According to the Cabinet Office, the fall in gross domestic product in the period was owing to a slowdown in private consumption and capital expenditure.

The latest preliminary reading comes on the heels of a downwardly revised 0.6 percent annualized rate of expansion logged in the fourth quarter, the government data showed.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP shrank 0.2 percent in inflation-adjusted terms, the Cabinet Office said.

Japan's economy last posted negative growth in the October-December quarter in 2015 when it contract an annualized 1.1 percent.