The surplus of Japan's trade balance in the 2017 financial year, which ended on March 31, 2018, declined by 21%. As reported by the Ministry of Finance of Japan, the decline was due to rising costs for increased in price oil and natural gas. Import increased by 13.4% to 73.7 trillion yen. Exports increased by 10.6% to 78.3 trillion yen, mainly due to increased supplies of cars and industrial equipment to Asian countries. Japan's surplus balance of payments reached a record value in 10 years, exceeding 21 trillion 740 billion yen, thanks to the increase in Japanese companies' income from investments abroad.
