Japan’s current account in December was ¥1,077.3 billion, down from ¥3,352.5 billion in November and below expectations of a ¥1,362 billion estimate.

• Both goods imports and exports were down compared to a year ago at -0.9% YoY and -0.3% YoY respectively.
• The primary income balance saw a steep drop over the month and was down -2.5% YoY in December vs up 13.0% YoY in November.
• In 2024 as a whole, the current account increased to ¥29,261.5 billion from ¥22,592.6 billion in 2023 as export growth (+4.5%) outpaced import growth (+1.8% MoM). The primary and secondary income accounts both saw strong improvements in 2024, up 11.3% YoY and 7.4% YoY respectively.