Japan's Sept exports fall 4.9% y-o-y

[TOKYO] Japan's exports fell 4.9 per cent in September from a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday, dropping at a slower pace than in the previous month as pressure from the coronavirus pandemic eases.

That compared with a 2.4 per cent decline expected by economists in a Reuters poll and followed a 14.8 per cent fall in August.

Imports dropped 17.2 per cent in the year to September, compared with the median estimate of an 21.4 per cent decline.

The trade balance came to a surplus of 675 billion yen (S$8.70 billion), against the median estimate of a 989.8 billion yen surplus.

REUTERS