Japan's economy did better than thought in the last quarter of 2012, eking out a slight expansion instead of shrinking, AP said.

The government Friday, March 8 upgraded its annualized growth figure for the fourth quarter to 0.2 percent, suggesting the world's No. 3 economy is emerging from recession.

The change raises growth for full-year 2012 to 2 percent from the originally recorded 1.9 percent. Growth was flat in October-December from the previous quarter.

Preliminary data had reported a 0.4 percent contraction from a year earlier, and a 0.1 percent contraction from the previous quarter.

The revision reflected higher than originally reported corporate spending and private consumption.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said Japan logged a deficit in its current account of 364.8 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in January, the third straight month of deficit.