Japan Recorded A Trade Surplus In November

Japan Recorded A Trade Surplus In November

Japan recorded a trade surplus in November, for the fifth month in a row, but much lower than in October. The reason for the surplus was a larger decline in imports than in exports. The Ministry of Finance informed about it on Wednesday. According to the latest data, Japan reached a trade surplus of 366.8 billion yen (2.91 billion euros) in November 2020. By comparison, last month its foreign trade balance ended with a deficit of JPY 88.4 billion. However, analysts expected an even higher surplus of JPY 530 billion in November this year, reaching a positive balance of JPY 872.9 billion in October. Statistics also showed that exports fell 4.2 percent year-on-year to JPY 6.1 trillion after declining by 0.2 percent a month earlier, as the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand in many parts of the world. Imports fell 11.1 percent year on year to JPY 5.75 billion in November. However, exports to Japan, Japan's largest trading partner, rose 3.8 percent to JPY 1.36 trillion in November for the fifth month in a row, while imports from the world's second-largest economy rose 6.7 percent at JPY 1.68 trillion. In the first 11 months of this year, Japan recorded a trade deficit of JPY 55 billion, less than the JPY 1.51 trillion deficit in the same period in 2019.