Japan Posts Trade Deficit for Fourth Consecutive Month in August as Oil Prices Soar

Rising Oil Prices Amid Middle East Tensions
Imports of Semiconductors and Other Electronics Also Have an Impact

Reuters Yonhap News

Japan has recorded a trade deficit for the fourth consecutive month due to factors such as the rise in international oil prices driven by the Iran war. Although exports of electronics and automobiles increased, a sharp hike in crude oil import prices worsened the trade balance.

According to preliminary trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance on September 16, the trade balance last month, calculated as exports minus imports, showed a deficit of 1.1056 trillion yen (about 9.75 trillion won). Both the sharp rise in crude oil prices due to instability in the Middle East and increased imports of electronic components such as semiconductors led to a higher increase in import value compared to exports. Japan’s trade balance has remained in deficit for four consecutive months since May.

Export value reached 10.0484 trillion yen (88.6 trillion won), marking a 19.3% increase year-on-year and continuing its upward trend for the twelfth consecutive month. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) explained that “exports of electronic components to China increased and automobile exports to the United States performed well.”

In contrast, import value rose significantly. Imports last month stood at 11.154 trillion yen, up 28% year-on-year, marking a seventh consecutive month of increase. In particular, crude oil imports surged by 58.7% to 1.1905 trillion yen in the same period. In yen terms, the import unit price for crude oil jumped to 102,684 yen per kiloliter, up 53.1% from last year.

Alternative procurement outside the Middle East led to an increase in import volume by 3.6% to 11.59 million kiloliters. After instability in the Middle East intensified, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi proactively placed orders for alternative supplies. In particular, the volume of imports from the United States increased sharply, reaching 3.65 million kiloliters—about seven times higher than the same month last year. In contrast, import volume from the Middle East fell by 30.9% to 7.25 million kiloliters.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.