Tokyo May 11 2024: Japan posted its biggest current account surplus of 25.34 trillion yen ($163 billion) in fiscal 2023, buoyed by record foreign investment returns and a sharp drop in its trade deficit on robust auto exports, government data showed Friday.
A revival of inbound tourism also lifted the country’s travel surplus to its highest level, helping boost last fiscal year’s surplus, as the weaker yen made travel to and shopping in Japan cheaper for foreign visitors, Kyodo News reported, quoting the official data.
The primary income, which reflects returns on foreign investment, totaled 35.53 trillion yen, up 0.6 percent from the previous year, boosted by higher overseas bond yields, which increased interest revenue, and a weak yen.
The trade deficit plunged nearly 80 percent to 3.57 trillion yen after exports grew 2.1 percent to 101.87 trillion yen while imports fell 10.3 percent to 105.44 trillion yen, according to the preliminary report by the Finance Ministry.
The overall surplus in the current account, one of the widest gauges of international trade, marked a roughly 2.8-fold increase from the previous year.
Resource-poor Japan’s trade balance was deep in the red in fiscal 2022 due to surging imports amid higher energy prices. But the value of imports fell in the fiscal year ended in March.
In March alone, Japan saw its current account surplus expand 44.0 percent to 3.40 trillion yen, the highest for the month since comparable data became available in 1985.
