Japan's May exports plunge 28% due to COVID-19 impact... Decline widens

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Japan's export volume in May plummeted by about 28% due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 17th, the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced preliminary trade statistics showing that last month's export volume was 4.1847 trillion yen, a 28.3% decrease compared to the same period last year. This is the largest decline since September 2009, during the global financial crisis. The export decline rate has been gradually increasing from 11.7% in March and 21.9% in April.

Exports to the United States decreased by 50.6% to 588.4 billion yen, the lowest since March 2009. This was largely due to a 78.9% and 73.2% drop in automobiles and automobile parts, respectively. Additionally, exports to the European Union (EU) fell by 33.8%, and exports to Asia also decreased by 12.0%. Exports to China and South Korea declined by 1.9% and 18%, respectively.

Imports were recorded at 5.0182 trillion yen, down 26.2%. Among items, crude oil imports dropped by 78.9%. By region, imports from the United States decreased by 27.5%, imports from the EU fell by 29.6%, and imports of Chinese products declined by 2.0%. As a result, the trade balance recorded a deficit of 833.4 billion yen. The trade deficit continued for the second consecutive month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.