TOKYO – Japan’s current account surplus in the year through March hit a new high for the third year in a row at 34.52 trillion yen ($219 billion), as goods trade returned to the black for the first time in five years on strong chip exports, government data showed Wednesday.
The surplus rose 15.0 percent from a year earlier, also buoyed by increases in returns on foreign investments amid the weak yen. Primary income, which reflects how much Japan earned from overseas investments, climbed 2.1 percent to 42.28 trillion yen.
The goods trade balance registered a surplus of 1.36 trillion yen compared to a deficit of 3.03 trillion yen the previous year, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Robust demand from Taiwan and other parts of Asia for Japanese electronic devices including semiconductors drove exports up 3.3 percent to 111.35 trillion yen.
Imports decreased 0.8 percent to 109.98 trillion yen as lower prices of crude oil pushed down overall shipments to Japan by value, with the impact of the Middle East conflict launched by U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28 not yet seen.
The weaker yen against the euro helped inflate dividends and interest earnings from overseas investments, with the yen falling 6.8 percent from a year earlier on average to 174.78 for fiscal 2025. The Japanese unit, meanwhile, traded 150.72 against the U.S. dollar on average in the same year, edging up 1.2 percent.
For the reported fiscal year, oil prices logged $71.41 per barrel, down 13.3 percent from the year before, the ministry said.
Services trade logged a deficit of 3.88 trillion yen, expanding red ink by 741.2 billion yen from the previous year, on rises in payouts for research and development purposes overseas.
The travel surplus shrank to 6.57 trillion yen from 6.60 trillion yen a year earlier, as the growth in foreign visitors to Japan was offset partly by more Japanese travelers going abroad, according to the ministry.
A surplus in the travel balance means spending in Japan by foreign visitors exceeded the amount spent overseas by Japanese.
In March alone, the country logged a 4.68 trillion yen current account surplus, gaining 29.1 percent from the year before, supported by increases in returns from overseas subsidiaries amid the weak yen.
A ministry official said it is difficult to estimate how much the Middle East situation affected the current account balance for March, as the conflict has hit both imports from and exports to the region by around 10 percent on year, citing separate trade data.
Inbound visitors from the Middle East decreased, but other factors, such as more travelers departing Japan, may have also influenced the overall travel balance, the official said.
The current account balance is one of the widest gauges of international trade.