Japan’s Current Account Surplus Hits Record High in 2024

Jiji Press

12:36 JST, February 10, 2025

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Japan’s current account surplus hit a record high in 2024 mainly because of higher dividend and interest receipts from abroad, the Finance Ministry said Monday.

The surplus on the current account, the broadest measure of a country’s international trade and investment flows, expanded 29.5 pct from the previous year to ¥29,261.5 billion, the ministry said in a preliminary report. The report showed that the surplus on the primary income account, which covers Japanese companies’ investment income from abroad, rose 11.3 pct to a record ¥40,207.2 billion as the yen-based value of income swelled due to a weaker yen.

Dividend receipts from financial firms’ overseas units expanded while interest income from bond holdings also grew.

The goods trade deficit narrowed to ¥3,899 billion from ¥6,500.9 billion a year before. Exports rose 4.5 pct to ¥104,869.8 billion on bullish shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and vehicles. Imports posted limited growth, rising 1.8 pct to ¥108,768.8 billion, mainly because of falling energy prices.

In services trade, the deficit shrank to ¥2,616.2 billion from ¥2,915.8 billion as the surplus in travel services climbed to a record high of ¥5,897.3 billion, driven by an increase in the number of visitors to Japan.

In December alone, the current account surplus went up 17.8 pct from a year before to ¥1,077.3 billion , the 23rd straight month of surplus.