Japan Balance of Trade

Last Release

Nov 30, 2024

Actual

-117.62

Units In

JPY Billion

-461.2

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Jan 22, 2025

Time to Release

1 Months 3 Days 23 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
1,608.68 Sep 2007	-3,498.6 Jan 2023	274.73 JPY Billion	1963-2024	N/A

Between 1980 and 2010 Japan had been recording trade surpluses every year due to rising exports. However, the trade balance swung to deficit in 2011, as the Fukushima nuclear disaster forced the country to increase its purchases of fossil fuels and gas in the wake of weaker yen. The surplus was back in 2016 and 2017, but in 2018 and 2019 Japan's trade balance shifted back into deficit amid persistent trade tensions between the US and China, and sluggish global growth. In 2019, Japan reported the biggest trade surpluses with the US, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the Netherlands. The biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

Latest Updates

Japan’s trade deficit plunged to JPY 117.62 billion in November 2024 from JPY 813.87 in the same month a year earlier, marking the smallest trade gap since July 2023. The latest result was much lower than market consensus of a shortfall of JPY 688.9 billion, as exports rose while imports shrank. Sales increased by 3.8% from the prior year to JPY 9,152.38 billion, accelerating from a 3.1% rise in October and topping forecasts of 2.8%. Meanwhile, purchases declined by 3.8%, swinging from the prior 0.4% increase and defying expectations of a 1.0% gain. They also marked the first drop in imports since March.