Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 40.7 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.
That missed forecasts for a surplus of 70.0 billion yen following the 823.5 billion yen surplus in April.
Exports were down 11.3 percent on year, missing forecasts for a fall of 10.0 percent following the 10.1 percent decline in the previous month.
Exports to all of Asia fell 13.0 percent on year to 2,769.048 billion yen, while exports to China alone fell 14.9 percent to 901.938 billion yen.
Exports to the United States slipped an annual 10.7 percent to 969.869 billion yen, while exports to the European Union shed 4.0 percent to 577.798 billion yen.
Imports skidded an annual 13.8 percent – matching forecasts after plummeting 23.3 percent a month earlier.
Imports from all of Asia fell 10.7 percent on year to 2,553.167 billion yen, while imports from just China alone skidded 9.7 percent to 1,303.031 billion yen.
Imports from the United States skidded an annual 8.5 percent to 624.234 billion yen, while imports from the European Union fell an annual 1.5 percent to 651.440 billion yen.
The adjusted trade surplus was 269.8 billion yen – beating expectations for 113.4 billion yen and down from 426.6 billion yen in April.
by RTT Staff Writer
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