Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 754.985 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday - up 237.9 percent on year.
The headline figure was shy of expectations for 819.1 billion yen following the 242.2 billion yen surplus in February.
Exports were down 6.8 percent on year, beating forecasts for a fall of 7.1 percent following the 4.0 percent contraction in the previous month.
Exports to all of Asia fell 9.7 percent on year to 3.318 trillion yen, while exports to China alone fell 7.1 percent to 1,116.069 billion yen.
Exports to the United States slipped an annual 5.1 percent to 1.307 trillion yen, while exports to the European Union jumped 12.1 percent to 790.271 billion yen.
Imports skidded an annual 14.9 percent versus expectations for a decline of 16.5 percent after tumbling 14.2 percent a month earlier.
Imports from the rest of Asia fell 5.3 percent on year to 2.909 trillion yen, while imports from just China climbed 6.3 percent to 1.467 trillion yen.
Imports from the United States skidded an annual 20.0 percent to 621.430 billion yen, while imports from the European Union fell an annual 3.7 percent to 683.519 billion yen.
The adjusted trade surplus was 276.5 billion yen - missing expectations for 450.0 billion yen but up from 166.1 billion yen in February.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.