Japan's economy contracted an annualized real 7.1 percent from the previous quarter in the October-December period last year, downwardly revised from an initial shrinkage of 6.3 percent, the government said in a report on Monday.

The contraction in inflation adjusted terms equates to a 1.8 percent decline on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the Cabinet Office said, with the first contraction in five quarters coming after Japan's sales tax hike from 8 to 10 percent last October being larger than median economists' forecasts.

The revised figure compares to an annualized 7.4 percent decline booked in the April-June quarter of 2014 after the consumption tax here was previously raised from 5 to 8 percent in April the same year.

In terms of gross domestic product components, capital expenditure fell 4.6 percent from the previous quarter, compared to an initial reading of a 3.7 percent decline, the government said.

Private consumption, meanwhile, which accounts for more than half of Japan's economy, declined 2.8 percent, upgraded from an initial reading of a 2.9 percent fall, the Cabinet Office's figures showed.

Public investment expanded 0.7 percent, downwardly revised from growing 1.1 percent initially, the figures showed.

Not adjusted for inflation, nominal GDP shrank an annualized 5.8 percent in the reporting quarter, down from a 4.9 percent contraction initially reported, the Cabinet Office also said.