Â鶹´«Ã½ current account surplus in the April-September period rose 14.1% from a year earlier, hitting a half-year record of ?17.51 trillion, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
In the first half of fiscal 2025, the current account balance, the broadest measure of a country¡¯s international trade and investment flows, expanded mainly because the trade balance swung to a surplus following lower imports.
The goods trade balance improved to a surplus of ?49.4 billion from the year-before deficit of ?2.36 trillion, marking the first surplus since the first half of fiscal 2021.
Contributing factors include a decrease in imports of energy, such as crude oil and coal, and increased exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to other Asian markets.
Â鶹´«Ã½ surplus on the primary income account, which mainly covers companies¡¯ dividend and interest receipts from abroad, rose 2.1% from a year earlier to ?22.28 trillion, the largest half-year surplus on record.
In services trade, which includes transportation and travel, Japan saw its deficit decline 11.3% to ?1.86 trillion. The travel services trade surplus rose to ?3.31 trillion thanks to an increase in visitors to Japan, nearly offsetting a deficit of ?3.35 trillion in digital services trade, which includes online advertising.
In September alone, Japan scored a current account surplus of ?4.48 trillion, a record high for the month. The primary income account surplus soared 82.3% from a year earlier to ?4.95 trillion, boosted by dividend income from overseas subsidiaries.
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