The current account surplus in the first half of this fiscal year, which shows how much Japan has earned through trade and investment with other countries, has decreased significantly by more than 6.86 trillion yen compared to the first half of last year.
According to the balance of payments statistics released by the Ministry of Finance, Japan's current account balance for the first half of this year from April to September this year was a surplus of 4.8458 trillion yen.
The surplus decreased by 6.8627 trillion yen compared to the same period last year, marking the second largest decline since 1985, when statistics were available for comparison.
Of this, the "trade balance," which is the difference between exports and imports, was 9.2334 trillion yen, the largest deficit ever.
This was due to the surge in energy prices such as crude oil and the rapid depreciation of the yen in the foreign exchange market, which led to an increase in the amount of imports.
On the other hand, the "primary income balance", which shows the exchange of interest and dividends earned from overseas securities investment, etc., was a record high of 18.2332 trillion yen due to an increase in dividends received from overseas subsidiaries due to the impact of the weak yen. was in the black.
The profit earned by Japanese companies from overseas investment compensated for the deterioration of the trade balance, but the current account surplus shrank significantly.
In addition, the current account balance in September was a surplus of 909.3 billion yen, a decrease of 743.9 billion yen compared to the same period last year.