Japan's current-account surplus shrank to ¥2.37tn in September, down 45.8% from a year earlier, as goods trade swung into deficit and overseas investment income weakened, according to preliminary figures from the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan published on November 10. The Bank of Japan compiles the statistics under delegation from the finance minister.
Imports outpace exports
Exports rose 12.8% to ¥10.73tn, the 13th straight monthly increase. Imports rose 17.8% to ¥10.92tn, the eighth straight increase. The goods balance fell to a ¥187.5bn deficit from a ¥246.6bn surplus a year earlier.
| Item | September 2026 | September 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Current account | ¥2.37tn | ¥4.38tn |
| Goods balance | -¥187.5bn | ¥246.6bn |
| Exports | ¥10.73tn | ¥9.51tn |
| Imports | ¥10.92tn | ¥9.27tn |
| Primary income | ¥3.55tn | ¥4.87tn |
The Ministry of Finance's summary lists customs-basis detail alongside the balance-of-payments data. On that basis, crude oil imports rose 51.1% in value but only 3.1% in volume, and liquefied natural gas rose 39.2% in value while volume fell 7.3%. The ministry gives Japan's crude price as $100.37 a barrel, up 37.4% on the year. The dollar averaged ¥156.41 in September against ¥147.94 a year earlier, a yen 5.7% weaker.
The services deficit widened to ¥456.9bn from ¥254.1bn. The ministry points to a wider deficit in other services. It also lists 3,103,700 foreign visitors in September, down 5.0%, and 1,481,900 Japanese departures, up 6.3%, citing the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Investment income weakens
Primary income, which covers returns on overseas investment, was a surplus of ¥3.55tn, down ¥1.32tn from a year earlier. The ministry attributes the narrowing mainly to direct-investment income. Net direct-investment income was ¥2.27tn against ¥3.51tn a year earlier, and net dividends and branch income fell to ¥1.49tn from ¥2.74tn.
On a seasonally adjusted basis the current-account surplus was ¥1.82tn, against ¥2.91tn in August.
In the financial account, net external assets rose ¥3.41tn in September. Non-residents were net sellers of ¥6.25tn of Japanese equity and investment fund shares and net buyers of ¥5.63tn of long-term debt securities.
The half-year picture
For the April-to-September half of the fiscal year, the current-account surplus was ¥17.15tn, down 0.4% from ¥17.22tn a year earlier and up from ¥16.58tn in the preceding half. Exports rose 16.5% to ¥61.80tn and imports rose 18.8% to ¥62.86tn, producing a ¥1.07tn goods deficit against a ¥142.1bn surplus a year before. Primary income was ¥21.53tn, down 2.5%.
The reserve-assets line was negative ¥25.24tn for the half and negative ¥15.09tn in August, against a small positive ¥256.0bn in September. The release gives no cause for those movements.
All figures are preliminary, and the release notes that totals may not add because of rounding.