JAPAN’S exports rose at a slower pace in October as the nation’s post-pandemic economic recovery remained fragile.

The value of exports gained 1.6 per cent from a year earlier, led by cars, ships and construction machinery shipments, the finance ministry reported on Thursday (Nov 16). That compared with a 4.3 per cent increase in September. Economists had forecast a 1 per cent increase. Imports decreased 12.5 per cent.

The trade balance swung to a deficit of 662.5 billion yen (S$5.9 billion).

The slowing exports suggest another source of uncertainty for Japan at a time when sticky inflation and limited wage growth keep a lid on domestic demand. In the third quarter, business investment dipped while consumer spending failed to recover, resulting in a deeper than expected contraction for the Japanese economy.

Exports to China fell 4 per cent, while those to the US increased 8.4 per cent and those to Europe rose 8.9 per cent.

Global commerce is expected to grow at a slower-than-expected pace this year, according to the World Trade Organization. Geopolitical tensions, amplified by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, are clouding the outlook.

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Japan has also protested Chinese and Russian import bans on its seafood in the wake of the release of treated wastewater off the coast of Fukushima. BLOOMBERG