Japan records trade deficit in January after 7 months... South Korea posts surplus

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japan recorded a trade deficit in January this year for the first time in seven months.

On the 17th, Japan's Ministry of Finance announced that exports (customs clearance basis, preliminary figures) in January this year increased by 6.4% compared to the same month last year to 5.7798 trillion yen, while imports decreased by 9.5% to 6.1037 trillion yen.

Accordingly, the trade balance, calculated by subtracting imports from exports, resulted in a deficit of 323.9 billion yen.

This is the first time in seven months that Japan has recorded a trade deficit.

By major countries, exports to the United States decreased by 4.8%, while exports to China surged by 37.5%, leading the overall export growth.

The increase rate of exports to China recorded by Japan in January this year is the largest since April 2010 (41.3%).

Exports to South Korea increased by 15.5% to 429.4 billion yen, and imports decreased by 6.3% to 255.4 billion yen.

As a result, Japan posted a trade surplus of 174 billion yen with South Korea in January this year, a 75.4% increase compared to the same period last year.

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