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Japan posted a current account surplus of 29.26 trillion yen ($193 billion) in 2024, a record high, driven by its highest-ever returns on foreign investments amid a weak yen and a decline in the trade deficit, government data showed Monday.
The surplus in the current account balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade, grew 29.5 percent from a year earlier, rising for the second consecutive year and marking the highest since comparable data became available in 1985, the Finance Ministry said.
Primary income, which reflects how much Japan earned from overseas investments, climbed 11.3 percent from the year before to 40.21 trillion yen, buoyed by higher returns from offshore subsidiaries in the financial, retail and auto sectors, the ministry said in its preliminary report.
Japan’s primary income has been boosted by returns from foreign direct investments by domestic companies and overseas dividend income, with the yen’s depreciation inflating their value. The currency averaged 151.48 against the U.S. dollar in 2024, 7.8 percent weaker than a year before.
Goods trade registered a deficit of 3.90 trillion yen, down 40 percent, with exports rising 4.5 percent to 104.87 trillion yen, led by strong demand for semiconductor-making equipment and vehicles.
Imports also increased 1.8 percent to 108.77 trillion yen due to increased shipments of personal computers and nonferrous metals, but growth was capped as the value of coal and energy purchases declined amid falling prices.
The services trade deficit shrank 10.3 percent to 2.62 trillion yen due to an expansion of the travel surplus, which stood at a record 5.90 trillion yen. Some 36.87 million foreign tourists, the most ever, visited Japan in 2024 due partly to a weaker yen.
The Nakamise shopping street in Tokyo’s Asakusa area is crowded with visitors, including tourists from overseas, on April 17, 2024. (Kyodo)
A surplus in the travel balance means that spending by foreign visitors in Japan exceeded the amount spent by Japan residents overseas.
In December alone, the country logged a 1.08 trillion yen current account surplus, up 17.8 percent from the previous year.
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