Japan's current account surplus hit a record high in 2024 mainly on 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, grew 29.5% from the previous year to ¥29.26 trillion ($193 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% to a record ¥40.21 trillion as the yen-based value of income swelled due to a weaker Japanese currency.
Dividend receipts from financial firms' overseas units expanded while interest income from bond holdings also grew.
The goods trade deficit narrowed to ¥3.9 trillion from ¥6.5 trillion a year earlier.
Exports rose 4.5% to ¥104.9 trillion on bullish shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and vehicles. Imports posted limited growth, rising 1.8% to ¥108.8 trillion, mainly because of falling energy prices.
In the services sector, the deficit shrank to ¥2.6 trillion from ¥2.92 trillion as the surplus in travel services climbed to a record high of ¥5.9 trillion, driven by an increase in the number of visitors to Japan.
In December alone, the current account surplus went up by 17.8% from a year earlier to ¥1.08 trillion, the 23rd straight month of surplus.
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