Japan’s trade deficit in 2024 shrank 44 per cent from a year earlier to 5.33 trillion yen ($34 billion), as exports hit a record high due to robust vehicle and semiconductor-related demand, government data showed Thursday.
Kyodo News quoted the Finance Ministry as saying that overall exports grew 6.2 per cent from the year before to 107.09 trillion yen, the highest since comparable data became available in 1979.
Imports climbed 1.8 per cent to 112.42 trillion yen, up for the first time in two years, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
For December alone, Japan reported a 130.9 billion yen trade surplus, the first black ink in six months.
Meanwhile Japan’s government on Thursday maintained a cautious outlook for the economy in part as policymakers kept a wary eye on US President Donald Trump’s policies and their potential impact on global growth.
The government also said fluctuations in financial markets are among other factors to watch, and retained its view on the economy recovering moderately in January underpinned by steady wage gains and a solid corporate sector.
“Executive orders of various policies such as an immigration policy and energy policy, which would have an impact on the economies of both within and outside of the US, are being made in the US,” said an official at the Cabinet Office.
Trump’s threats of tariffs against key trading partners have stoked uncertainty for investors and policymakers, and have buffeted global markets since before and after his sweeping Nov. 5 US election.
Most Japanese firms operating in the United States are bracing for the fallout of Trump’s polices, a survey released last week showed.
The Cabinet Office report said Japan’s investment in the US has been increasing, ranking as the top for five straight years since 2019. Japanese companies are also contributing to job creation in the US, taking the top spot in the manufacturing sector, it added.
In the January report, the government maintained its view on most of the key economic areas. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the Japanese economy, was “picking up” and corporate profits were “recovering overall.” The government expects the economy will continue to recover gradually helped by an improvement in the employment and wage environment, the report said. Japan’s November base salary, or regular pay, rose at the fastest pace since 1992, after major companies agreed to higher pay at the spring wage negotiations.
The nation’s biggest business lobby Keidanren and trade unions kicked off this year’s wage talks on Wednesday and policymakers will be focused on how far the momentum spreads to smaller firms.
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