Japan's current account surplus in September widened 9.4 percent to 2.02 trillion yen from the same month a year ago, the Finance Ministry said Monday.

The figure marks the third straight month of increase, thanks to the strong income surplus companies earned from overseas investment as well as continuing brisk exports.

The income surplus, the net income from investments overseas, expanded by 19.4 percent to 1.21 trillion yen.

The trade account surplus rose 0.2 percent to 1.07 trillion yen from a year earlier. Exports jumped 14.8 percent to 6.49 trillion yen and imports climbed 18.4 percent to 5.38 trillion yen.

The goods and services account posted a 890.4 billion yen surplus, up 4.3 percent compared with a year earlier. The service account deficit narrowed 13.7 percent to 216.6 billion yen against a deficit of 251.1 billion yen a year ago.

Economists said a cheaper yen has helped up the surplus by making Japanese products, including automobiles and electronics, more attractive to foreign buyers and increasing earnings from overseas.

The yen traded at an average of 117.01 against the dollar in September, 5.4 percent weaker than a year earlier, while it traded at an average of 149.11 to the euro, 9.5 percent cheaper than a year earlier, the government said.

For the April-September period, the current account surplus rose 5.0 percent to 9.29 trillion yen. The trade surplus expanded 8.7 percent to 4.48 trillion yen and imports widened by 19.4 percent to 5.52 trillion yen. The surplus in the goods and services account narrowed 9.6 percent to 3.12 trillion yen year on year. For the same period, the service account deficit narrowed 6.5 percent to 1.37 trillion yen.