The balance has been negative for 49 of the 58 months since the March 2011 natural disaster and tsunami. In 2014, the deficit totaled ¥12.82 trillion, a record high since comparable data became available in 1979. The third consecutive monthly drop was partly attributable to weaker showings in exports to China and the broader Asian region. Meanwhile, the prolonged bout of low crude oil prices – normally a boon for a resource-scarce country like Japan which imports nearly all of its oil and gas – is hindering progress toward a 2 percent inflation goal meant to mark the end of a long spell of growth-dampening deflation.
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Japan’s trade balance swung to a surplus in December, as oil prices tumbled and the yen gained against other currencies. Most remain shut down.
“Exports haven’t grown much, but the trade deficit has narrowed because commodity prices are slumping more than expected”, Atsushi Takeda, an economist at Itochu Corp.in Tokyo, told Bloomberg.
Adding to the signs of weakness, exports were down 3.8% from the previous month if adjusted for seasonal variations, the data showed. The latest survey showed 37.2 percent of books and 41.8 percent of magazines were returned, indicating supply far outweighing demand.
Japan’s shipments to the United States grew 11.5 percent to 15.22 trillion yen on the back of robust vehicle exports, while imports expanded 6.8 percent to 8.05 trillion yen.
Exports to China, another major destination for Japanese products, dropped 1.1 percent to ¥13.23 trillion, reflecting a drop in automobiles amid the slowdown in the Chinese economy, while imports rose 1.3 percent to ¥19.42 trillion.
Exports to the European Union climbed 5.3 percent to 7.99 trillion yen and imports from the 28-nation bloc rose 5.6 percent to 8.62 trillion yen.
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In the month of December, the trade surplus stood at 140.2 billion yen (1.18 billion USA dollars), with the ministry saying that exports dropped 8.0 percent from a year earlier to 6.34 trillion yen, while imports fell 18.0 percent to 6.20 trillion yen, on a customs-cleared basis.
