Japan Logs Records $73-B Trade Deficit In First Half Of 2022

Japan posted a record 11.01 trillion yen ($73 billion) trade deficit in the first half of fiscal 2022 as imports surged on higher energy and raw material prices, magnified by the yen's decline against the U.S. dollar to its lowest level in decades, Finance Ministry data showed, Mainichi Japan reported.

Photo Insert: Major Japanese exports included cars and semiconductors, while imports of crude oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal saw marked growth.

The red ink showed the vulnerability of the resource-scarce nation that relies heavily on imports. The weaker yen, once welcomed as a boon to exporters, a major driver of economic growth, has eroded national wealth.

The deficit was the biggest for any fiscal half-year period. Japan logged its previous record trade deficit of 8.76 trillion yen in the October-March period of fiscal 2013. Comparable data became available in 1979.

In the six months to September, imports jumped 44.5 percent to 60.58 trillion yen, outpacing exports that grew 19.6 percent to 49.58 trillion yen, both record totals, the preliminary ministry data showed.

Major Japanese exports included cars and semiconductors, while imports of crude oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal saw marked growth.

"The effect of higher energy prices and the weaker yen was big," said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at the Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.

"Exports have been benefiting from the yen's depreciation of late, which should boost gross domestic product. That said, national wealth has been shrinking, in a blow to the prime minister's push for redistribution," he added.

Japan has been running a trade deficit for the past 14 months, with Russia's war against Ukraine sending crude oil and other energy prices sharply higher.

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