Some bad news for Japan, as exports stay in the red for seventh consecutive month
Japan's exports were still in the red in after Ministry of Finance data released today revealed a drop of 10.1 per cent year on year in April – despite stronger growth figures.
This is the seventh straight month of declines, after a strong yen and weakness in China took their toll. Exports to China, which remains Japan's largest trading partner, fell 7.6 per cent in April.
Shipments to the US fell 11.8 per cent year on year, while car exports in particular were down 4.4 per cent. Car exports were affected by supply-chain disruptions caused by last month's earthquakes in southern Japan, reported Reuters.
The April dip in exports was worse than the 6.8 per cent registered in March and was the biggest since a 12.9 per cent decline in January, when trade slowed due to New Year holidays.
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Imports also fell sharply in April, dropping by 23.3 per cent, worse than a 19 per cent decline forecast by economists.
Last week, Japan posted a bumper set of growth figures in the first quarter, which beat analysts' expectations and averted dipping into a recession.
The economy grew 0.4 per cent in the first quarter and 1.7 per cent on an annualised basis, bouncing back from a 0.4 per cent contraction in the final quarter of last year.