Trade balance in February Deficit of more than 2 billion yen Largest deficit ever for February

Last month's trade statistics showed a deficit of more than 8900 billion yen, the largest deficit ever for February.

According to an announcement by the Ministry of Finance, the trade balance last month, which is calculated by subtracting imports from exports, was a deficit of 8977.19 billion yen.

The trade deficit was the 2th consecutive month and the largest February since 1979, when statistics are comparable.

Due to soaring energy prices such as crude oil and LNG = liquefied natural gas, as well as the depreciation of the yen, the import value in February increased by 2.8% from the same month last year to 3.8 trillion yen.

On the other hand, the value of exports was 5524.7 trillion yen, which was 6547.6% higher due to an increase in automobile exports to the United States.

However, exports to China, the country's largest trading partner, fell by 5.10% due to a decline in automotive parts and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Both imports and exports were the largest on record for February, but the trade deficit continues against the backdrop of soaring energy prices.