Japan: Merchandise exports grow at faster pace in September
Yen-denominated merchandise exports shot up 28.9% over the same month last year in September, beating market expectations (August: +22.0% year-on-year). September’s result marked the strongest expansion since July 2021. Meanwhile, merchandise imports climbed 45.9% over the same month last year in September (August: +49.9% yoy), marking the weakest result since April 2022.
As a result, the merchandise trade balance improved from the previous month, recording a JPY 2.1 trillion deficit in September (August 2022: JPY 2.8 trillion deficit; September 2021: JPY 0.6 trillion deficit).
Analysts at Nomura commented:
“After making adjustments for inflation and seasonality, we estimate real exports fell by 2.5% m-m in September. This is the first m-m decline in three months […]. We estimate that real exports in the Jul–Sep quarter increased by 1.6% q-q, turning upward after a 1.0% q-q decline in Apr–Jun. The increase in the Jul–Sep quarter was led by general machinery (+4.4%) and transportation equipment (+12.2%).”