Japan Balance of Trade  1963-2017 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast

Japan's trade deficit widened to JPY 203.4 billion in May 2017 from JPY 47.4 billion in the same month a year earlier while missing market expectations of a JPY 76 billion surplus. Imports jumped 17.8 percent from the previous year to JPY 6,054.7 billion, boosted by higher purchases of mineral fuels, electrical machinery, chemicals and machinery. Exports increased at a slower 14.9 percent to JPY 5,851.4 billion. Still, it was the sixth straight month of increase in exports and the fastest since January 2015, due to higher shipments of transport equipment, machinery, manufactured goods and electrical machinery. Balance of Trade in Japan averaged 367.98 JPY Billion from 1963 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 1608.67 JPY Billion in September of 2007 and a record low of -2795.04 JPY Billion in January of 2014.

Japan Balance of Trade
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Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus Forecast (i)
2017-04-19 11:50 PM Mar ¥615B ¥813.4B ¥575.8B ¥500B
2017-05-21 11:50 PM Apr ¥482B ¥615B ¥520.7B ¥550B
2017-06-18 11:50 PM May ¥-203B ¥482B ¥76B ¥100B
2017-07-24 11:50 PM Jun ¥-203.4B
2017-08-17 11:50 PM Jul
2017-09-20 11:50 PM Aug




Japan Trade Gap Widens Sharply In May


Japan's trade deficit widened to JPY 203.4 billion in May 2017 from JPY 47.4 billion in the same month a year earlier while missing market expectations of a JPY 76 billion surplus. Imports jumped 17.8 percent from the previous year to JPY 6,054.7 billion, boosted by higher purchases of mineral fuels, electrical machinery, chemicals and machinery. Exports increased at a slower 14.9 percent to JPY 5,851.4 billion, due to higher shipments of transport equipment, machinery, manufactured goods and electrical machinery.

In May, imports jumped 17.8 percent from a year earlier to JPY 6,054.7 billion, faster than market expectations of a 14.8 percent gain. It was the strongest gain since early 2014, as purchases rose for most categories: Mineral fuels (41.5 percent), of which petroleum (8.7 percent); electrical machinery (11.5 percent); chemicals (16.6 percent); machinery (16.4 percent); others (8.8 percent), of which clothing (5.8 percent); foodstuff (11.9 percent); manufactured goods (14.6 percent); raw materials (25.7 percent). In contrast, imports of transport equipment fell 1.9 percent.

Among major trading partners, imports grew from China (9.6 percent), the US (7.4 percent), Australia (51.1 percent), South Korea (17.5 percent), Taiwan (11.1 percent), Germany (8.2 percent) and Thailand (25 percent).

Exports increased at a slower 14.9 percent to JPY 5,851.4 billion, below expectations of a 16.1 percent rise. Still, it was the sixth straight month of increase in exports and the fastest since January 2015 as sales rose mainly for transport equipment (12.5 percent) boosted by higher shipments of motor vehicles (8.2 percent). Also, exports went up for: Machinery (17.1 percent), boosted by power generating machine (20.9 percent) and semicon machinery (25.1 percent); manufactured goods (12.4 percent), led by iron and steel products (20 percent); electrical machinery (13.6 percent); chemicals (14 percent); others (25.8 percent), mainly boosted by scientific, optical instruments (24.8 percent). In contrast, outbound shipments of mineral fuels declined by 10 percent.

Among major trading partners, exports rose to China (23.9 percent), the US (11.6 percent), the EU (19.8 percent), South Korea (22.9 percent), Hong Kong (11.9 percent) and Thailand (16.3 percent). In contrast, sales dropped to Taiwan (-0.9 percent).

Ministry of Finance l Rida Husna | rida@tradingeconomics.com
6/19/2017 8:08:49 AM


Recent Releases

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Published on 2017-05-22

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Published on 2017-02-20



Japan Trade Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Balance of Trade -203.37 481.75 1608.67 -2795.04 JPY Billion [+]
Exports 5851.36 6329.20 7681.69 105.08 JPY Billion [+]
Imports 6054.73 5847.45 8047.03 162.06 JPY Billion [+]
Current Account 1951.90 2907.70 3360.40 -1456.10 JPY Billion [+]
Current Account to GDP 3.70 3.10 4.70 -1.00 percent [+]
External Debt 387147.00 399002.00 399002.00 141743.00 JPY Billion [+]
Terms of Trade 101.20 102.50 276.10 83.10 Index Points [+]
Foreign Direct Investment 4658.00 24228.00 44889.00 -3825.00 JPY Hundreds Million [+]
Capital Flows 10673.00 49934.00 51843.00 -26928.00 JPY HML [+]
Tourism Revenues 14478000.00 12476000.00 22081000.00 821000.00 JPY Thousand [+]
Tourist Arrivals 2294700.00 2578900.00 2578900.00 225806.00 [+]
Gold Reserves 765.22 765.20 765.22 753.54 Tonnes [+]
Terrorism Index 2.45 0.00 2.52 0.00 [+]
Crude Oil Production 4.00 4.00 13.00 3.00 BBL/D/1K [+]

Exports by Country  |   Exports by Category  |   Imports by Country  |   Imports by Category



Japan Balance of Trade Notes

Between 1980 and 2010 Japan had been recording trade surpluses every year due to rising exports. But since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, trade balance swing to deficit due to the weakening of the Japanese yen and increased purchases of fossil fuels and gas. In 2015, trade gap fell 77.9 percent from a record high deficit in the previous year, helped by plunge in oil prices. In 2015, the biggest trade surpluses were recorded with: United States, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The biggest trade deficits were recorded with: China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Russia and Malaysia. This page provides - Japan Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Japan Balance of Trade - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on June of 2017.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-203.37 481.75 1608.67 -2795.04 1963 - 2017 JPY Billion Monthly
Current Prices, NSA



balance of trade by Country

Last
Australia 555.00 Apr/17
Brazil 7661.00 May/17
Canada -370.30 Apr/17
China 407.90 May/17
Euro Area 17858.90 Apr/17
France -5535.00 Apr/17
Germany 18078.00 Apr/17
India -13841.70 May/17
Indonesia 474.00 May/17
Italy 3601.32 Apr/17
Japan -203.37 May/17
Mexico 616.79 Apr/17
Netherlands 3833.00 Apr/17
Russia 8001.00 Apr/17
South Korea 5990.00 May/17
Spain -1198829.00 Apr/17
Switzerland 3400.03 May/17
Turkey -4945.41 Apr/17
United Kingdom -2050.00 Apr/17
United States -47617.00 Apr/17