Japan's exports hit record high in 2024, but trade deficit continues

The yen value of exports will of course have been helped by the exchange rate. The trade deficit will be a drag on growth

Even if there is a trade deficit, there is no problem as long as there is a surplus overall.

Crude oil is too expensive to begin with. Help Trump! But give us cheap oil, not shale gas!

The current account balance for 2023 will be a surplus of 20.6295 trillion yen, an increase from the previous year. The current account balance for November 2024 will be a surplus of 3.3525 trillion yen, an increase from the same month last year.

If the yen is weak, it means Japanese goods are more affordable to consumers abroad. When those profits are repatriated, the company's dollars and euros are converted into yen, boosting the profits here. This also seems to be giving the NIKKIE 225 a big boost. This could lead to wage hikes, bonuses, and spending that cash in Japan. Not everything about a weak yen is bad.

And, recent Japanese LDP regime continues to victimize daily life, health and the lives of citizen to huge benefit major corporations who depend on mainly export.

I might also add that if you have a NISA, and you are investing in the NIKKEI 225, you might want a weak yen to continue for those exporters. That is the whole point of investing.

grc:

The trade deficit will be a drag on growth

On the contrary, when a country is economically successful, it tends to have a trade deficit simply because it has more purchasing power. US has had trade deficit for 50 consecutive years since 1975!