Society

Tourism drives Japan current account surplus to 10-year high

Jun 08 (Nikkei) - Japan's current account surplus grew 7.5% on the year in April to 1.95 trillion yen ($17.7 billion), the highest for the month in 10 years, according to data released Thursday by the Ministry of Finance.

Mainly driving the increase was growth in inbound tourism. Also contributing was higher dividend income from overseas investments.

Japan has now logged a surplus for 34 straight months. It was the second-highest April reading since 1985, when comparable data first became available. The largest surplus for the month -- 1.96 trillion yen -- was recorded in 2007, a year before the global financial crisis hit.

The balance for services, which includes transport, travel and financial transactions, improved by 116.7 billion yen to a deficit of 294.7 billion yen.

The deficit shrank thanks in part to a bigger surplus in the travel balance. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, a record 2.57 million tourists visited Japan in April.

Spending per tourist has been declining due to higher tariffs in China and the spread of online shopping. But that contraction was outweighed by growth in the number of tourists. Foreign visitors spent more in Japan than Japanese spent abroad.

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