• Prior was 728.8B yen
• Current account in goods vs 134.9B prior

Japan’s current account balance, published monthly by the Ministry of Finance, is one of the broadest measures of the country’s international transactions. It captures the trade balance in goods and services, primary income (mainly investment returns from overseas assets), and secondary income (transfers). As the world’s largest net creditor nation, Japan’s current account has been structurally supported by enormous overseas investment holdings accumulated over decades.

For full-year 2025, Japan posted a record current account surplus of ¥31.88 trillion, up 11.1% from the prior year and the highest since comparable data began in 1985. The result extended a two-year streak of record surpluses. The primary income balance — driven by dividends and interest from Japanese firms’ offshore subsidiaries — rose 4.7% to an all-time high of ¥41.59 trillion, remaining the single largest contributor to the surplus. Meanwhile, the goods trade deficit shrank sharply by 76.8% to just ¥848.7 billion, as exports grew 2.5% on strong demand for semiconductors and foodstuffs while imports edged down 0.1%. However, the services deficit widened to ¥3.39 trillion from ¥2.77 trillion, reflecting rising expenses for overseas automobile and pharmaceutical R&D.

December itself was softer. The monthly surplus narrowed 32.0% year-over-year to ¥728.8 billion, well below market expectations. The primary income surplus slipped, the services account swung back into deficit, and the secondary income gap widened modestly. Still, the goods balance improved as export growth outpaced imports.

The data underscores Japan’s evolving external profile — less reliant on goods trade surpluses and increasingly dependent on returns from its vast stock of foreign assets.

Separately, data on bank lending for Feb:

• Lending +4.5% vs +4.5% prior