ANKARA
Japan’s exports grew at the fastest pace in 2023 last month, beating the market forecast, the country’s Finance Ministry data showed Wednesday.
Overseas shipments increased 9.8% year-on-year to 9.65 trillion yen ($65.4 billion) in December, reversing from a 0.2% decline in November and beating expectations of a 9.1% hike.
Its imports dropped 6.8% at an annualized pace to 9.59 trillion yen, following November’s 11.9% decrease.
As a result, the world’s third-largest economy saw an unexpected 62 billion yen ($419 million) trade surplus in December, shifting from a revised 780.4 billion yen deficit in the previous month.
In 2023, Japan’s total exports ticked up 2.8% year-on-year to 100.9 trillion yen, while imports slipped 7% to 110.2 trillion yen.
