TOKYO, Nov 22: The global economic slump hit Japan’s trade surplus hard in October, depressing it by 32.9 per cent from a year earlier to $3.8 billion, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

A fall in exports was more severe than that in imports, bringing down the overall trade surplus, said a ministry official. The decline (in exports) reflected the weak global economy and a slump in demand worldwide.

The overall surplus fell year-on-year for the 16th straight month, with exports dropping 9.0 per cent to 4,071.1 billion yen and imports down 4.7 per cent to 3,608.6 billion yen, the ministry said.

Global demand for IT-related products stagnated, said the official.

Japan’s trade surplus with the United States fell 4.3 per cent to 617.1 billion yen, with exports down 8.1 per cent to 1,248.3 billion yen and imports tumbling 11.5 per cent to 631.3 billion yen.

The trade surplus with the European Union dropped 25.8 per cent to 180.0 billion yen, as exports fell 6.2 per cent to 641.2 billion yen. Imports however rose 4.5 per cent to 461.2 billion yen.

With the rest of Asia, Japan’s trade surplus nosedived 73.7 per cent to 62.0 billion yen dragged down by a 13.6-per cent fall in exports to 1,605.6 billion yen and 4.9-per cent drop in imports to 1,543.6 billion yen.

Among major Japanese exports, semiconductor shipments plunged 33.8 per cent over the month. US-bound chip exports sank 54.5 per cent, those to the European Union fell 48.1 per cent, while to Asia, Japanese chip exports declined 26.0 per cent.

Japan’s surplus would continue to slump due to a drop in exports as major economies worldwide falter, said Koichi Ono, economist at Daiwa Institute of Research.

Amid a slowdown in the global economy, consumers opt to buy cheaper goods. I suspect Japanese companies are losing ground in foreign markets against Chinese and other Asian competitors, Ogasawara said.

The figures had little impact on a quiet stock market heading into a three-day weekend.—AFP