Tokyo: Japan's current account surplus in fiscal 2022 shrank 54.2% from a year earlier to 9.23 trillion yen ($68.8bn), the lowest level since fiscal 2014, after high energy prices and a weak yen widened the goods trade deficit, the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced yesterday.
The current account surplus, one of the widest gauges of international trade, fell as the resource-poor country saw its goods trade deficit grow nearly 12-fold to 18.06 trillion yen as a weak yen inflated import costs, according to a preliminary report, cited by Japan's Kyodo News Agency. Imports jumped 35.0% to 117.68 trillion yen, while exports rose 16.3% to 99.62 trillion yen.
The deficit in services trade, including cargo shipping and passenger transportation, rose 8.2% to 5.28 trillion.
Meanwhile, primary income, which reflects returns on overseas investments, surged 22.6% to 35.56 trillion yen, inflated by the weak yen.
In March alone, the country's current account surplus shrank to 2.28 trillion yen, down 29.6% from a year earlier.
