The country’s exports in November fell from a year earlier for the 24th month, marking the longest streak of decline on record as the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on overseas demand continued, government data showed Wednesday. Exports in the reporting month dropped 4.2% to ¥6.11 trillion, with auto shipments to Europe and the Middle East remaining sluggish, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. The pace of year-on-year decline in exports accelerated from 0.2% in October, with a recent resurgence in the number of global virus infections further clouding the outlook. The longest stretch of decrease since comparable data became available in January 1979 was also caused by adverse effects on Japan’s exports from U.S.-China trade tensions, officials said.
The previous record was 23 months of consecutive falls in exports through July 1987, when Japan faced fierce trade friction with the United States amid Tokyo’s rise as an economic power, with the yen appreciating against the U.S. dollar following the 1985 Plaza Accord, they said. In November, imports slid 11.1% to ¥5.75 trillion, down for the 19th straight month on falling prices for crude oil imports from producers such as the United Arab Emirates. But the pace of decrease was slower than the 13.3% logged in October. The goods trade surplus stood at ¥366.77 billion in the reporting month, down from the ¥871.69 billion recorded in October but remaining in the black for the fifth straight month. The surplus was smaller than the median forecast of ¥529.8 billion among 18 research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press.
Japan’s exports had posted double-digit slumps between March and August as global demand was dampened by the pandemic. Exports served as a driving force when the world’s third-largest economy grew an annualized real 22.9% in the July-September period from the previous quarter, the fastest expansion in 40 years, after it shrank 29.2% in the April-June quarter due to the government’s state of emergency declaration over the virus in April. The emergency declaration was fully lifted in late May. In trade with the United States, Japan’s surplus expanded 12.6% to ¥588.3 billion. Exports were down 2.5%, and imports were down 13.9%. In trade with mainland China, Japan’s deficit grew 21.0% to ¥324.8 billion. Exports rose 3.8%, and imports were up 6.7%. All figures were compiled on a customs-cleared basis.