Japan FY 2024 current account surplus hits record 30 trillion Yen

Tokyo (Jiji Press) — Japan’s current account surplus hit a record high in fiscal 2024 as a weaker yen boosted dividend and interest flows from overseas, a Finance Ministry report showed Monday.

For the year ended this March, Japan posted a current account surplus of 30,377.1 billion yen, the highest since comparable data began in 1985, according to the preliminary balance of payments report.

The fiscal 2024 surplus topped the previous record of 26,166.4 billion yen, set in fiscal 2023.

In the primary income account, the country’s surplus jumped 11.7 percent from the previous year to a record 41,711.4 billion yen, reflecting an increase in dividend and income payments to domestic companies from their overseas subsidiaries amid the yen’s depreciation against the dollar and other major currencies.

In goods trade, Japan incurred a deficit of 4,048 billion yen, wider than the previous year’s deficit of 3,686.6 billion yen. Exports climbed 4.1 percent to 106,239 billion yen, led by shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and vehicles. Imports increased 4.3 percent to 110,287 billion yen, backed by demand for computers.

In services trade, Japan logged a deficit of 2,576.7 billion yen, smaller than the previous year’s 3,230.7 billion yen. While its travel account surplus hit a record 6,686.4 billion yen, the deficit in digital trade, including online advertising, also reached a record level, at 6,965.1 billion yen.

In March alone, Japan’s current account surplus expanded 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 3,678.1 billion yen, a new March record high.