Japan's current account surplus hits record high in 2024
Japan's current account surplus hit a record high in 2024 mainly because of higher dividend and interest receipts from abroad, the Finance Ministry said Monday (February 10).
The surplus on the current account, the broadest measure of a country's international trade and investment flows, expanded 29.5 % from the previous year to 29,261.5 billion yen, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
The report showed that the surplus on the primary income account, which covers Japanese companies' investment income from abroad, rose 11.3 % to a record 40,207.2 billion yen as the yen-based value of income swelled due to a weaker yen.
Dividend receipts from financial firms' overseas units expanded while interest income from bond holdings also grew.
The goods trade deficit narrowed to 3,899 billion yen from 6,500.9 billion yen a year before. Exports rose 4.5 % to 104,869.8 billion yen on bullish shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and vehicles. Imports posted limited growth, rising 1.8 % to 108,768.8 billion yen, mainly because of falling energy prices.
In services trade, the deficit shrank to 2,616.2 billion yen from 2,915.8 billion yen as the surplus in travel services climbed to a record high of 5,897.3 billion yen, driven by an increase in the number of visitors to Japan.
In December alone, the current account surplus went up 17.8 % from a year before to 1,077.3 billion yen, the 23rd straight month of surplus.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Photo by Reuters
