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Japan's farm exports hit record high in 2020 despite pandemic

Feb 07 (Japan Today) - Japan's agriculture, fishery and forestry exports in 2020 hit a record high for the eighth consecutive year, with household items such as eggs and rice seeing a boost in sales during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the farm ministry said Friday.

Preliminary data by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries showed exports rose 1.1 percent from the previous year to 922.3 billion yen, with household products driving sales amid a global drop in demand for eating out.

Although the government is aiming to have its farm exports reach 2 trillion yen by 2025 and 5 trillion yen by 2030, respectively, shipments have stayed at around 900 billion yen since 2018.

Agricultural exports in 2020 rose 11.7 percent from the previous year to 656.5 billion yen, while those of fishery products fell 20.8 percent to 227.7 billion yen and forestry items increased 2.8 percent to 38.1 billion yen.

By item, exports of chicken eggs rose around 2.1 times to 4.5 billion yen and rice increased 15.0 percent to 5.3 billion yen, while milk and dairy products grew 20.4 percent to 22.2 billion yen.

Canned tuna and bonito products saw a boost of 33.6 percent to 20.3 billion yen. Japanese whiskies and alcoholic beverages proved to be similarly popular.

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