Jiji Press – February 9, 2016 – TOKYO — Japan posted a current account surplus of ¥16.64 trillion in 2015, up about 6.3-fold from the previous year, scoring the first growth in five years on the back of slumps on global crude oil markets, a Finance Ministry report showed Monday.
The sharp increase came as imports fell for the first time in six years against a backdrop of falls of about 40 percent in crude oil prices, significantly improving the country’s trade balance.
Japan had previously seen a surge in imports of fuel for thermal power generation due to reactor shutdowns following the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant, which was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
In 2015, Japan’s deficit in goods trade narrowed 93.8 percent to ¥643.4 billion, with imports falling 10.3 percent to ¥75.82 trillion while exports expanding 1.5 percent to ¥75.17 trillion, up for the third straight year, according to the preliminary balance of payments report.
In addition, the country’s services trade deficit nearly halved to ¥1.56 trillion, reflecting a rise in the number of tourists from abroad to an annual record of 19.73 million.
Japan marked a tourism account surplus of ¥1.12 trillion, the first black ink in 53 years.
Its surplus on loyalties for intellectual property rights hit a record high of ¥2.4 trillion, led by a rise in royalty income from automobile-related patents.
The surplus in the primary income account rose 14.7 percent to ¥20.77 trillion, setting a record high for the third consecutive year. The growth reflected rises in dividend payments from overseas subsidiaries to parent companies at home and in the yen-quoted value of foreign currency-denominated assets on the back of the yen’s depreciation.