News
Total value of Japan's Exports is expected to level off in fiscal 2019 (April 2019-March 2020), growing a minute 0.9% from a year earlier to \82.48 trillion, according to trade and current balance projections recently made by Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc. (JFTC). Export quantity and prices are envisaged to increase 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively. The council anticipated that demand for digital products and investment for automation and labor saving will both begin gradually picking up on a global scale.
Meanwhile, imports to Japan are projected to total \83.81 trillion, up 0.9%, only suffering a minor impact from a rise in the consumption tax rate. Import quantity is estimated to climb 0.5%, and prices, 0.4%.
JFTC foresaw that as a consequence, Japan will post a trade loss of \1.338 trillion. The overall trade value is forecast to reach an all-time high for the second consecutive year, amounting to \166.3 trillion, due to mild increases in both export and import total values.
Exports from Japan in fiscal 2018 are calculated to have totaled \81.73 trillion, up 3.2% year on year, while export quantity is estimated to have grown 1.3%. Its imports are expected to have amounted to \83.05 trillion, up 8.2%, and import quantity is envisaged to have risen 1.6%.
JFTC anticipated that Japan will enjoy a current account surplus of \19.87 trillion in fiscal 2019, remaining nearly unchanged from the previous fiscal year. The balance of goods and services is projected to return to the black, totaling more than \1 trillion, as an increase in the number of visitors from overseas will accelerate again.
