Japan Trade Balance

Japan's Trade Balance Index shows difference between exports and imports. The trade balance measures the difference in value between imported and exported goods during the reporting period. A positive value indicates a trade surplus, while a negative one hints at a trade deficit. A positive value indicates that more goods and services were exported than imported.

Japan is not a country where crude oil can be taken, so most of the energy is dependent on oil producing countries. There are also hydro, geothermal, wind and nuclear power, but these types have a smaller share compared to thermal power. Therefore, the country has to import crude oil in large quantities, which has a big influence on the balance of trade.

Japan's trade balance went into red, when oil prices rose sharply, but basically it is always in the black. This is because the export of Japan comprises of high value-added industrial products, while imports tend to include a lot of energy and industrial raw materials and are significantly less likely to increase.

The impact of the Trade Balance report on the Japanese Yen is ambiguous and depends on many other economic indicators