Japan's trade deficit declined 69.6% year over year in August to ¥136.33 billion, following a revised deficit of ¥250.70 billion booked in July, provisional unadjusted data from the Ministry of Finance showed.
The consensus estimate of economists polled by Econoday was for an August trade deficit of ¥370.2 billion.
Exports fell 8.2% to ¥6.141 trillion in August, faring better than the Econoday consensus estimate of an 11.1% drop. Imports declined 12.0% to ¥6.277 trillion, compared with the Econoday consensus estimate of an 11.4% fall.
Exports to China fell 12.1% to ¥1.200 trillion, while imports dropped 8.5% to ¥1.417 trillion, logging a trade deficit of ¥216.77 billion. Exports to the U.S. fell 4.4% to ¥1.190 trillion, while imports dropped 9.2% to ¥718.38 billion, booking a surplus of ¥472.01 billion.
As of Sept. 17, US$1 was equivalent to ¥108.15.
