Exports YoY

Exports YoY, short for year on year percent change, tracks annual growth in Japan goods export value from Trade Statistics of Japan. MOF Japan, short for Ministry of Finance Japan, compiles it through the Customs and Tariff Bureau from every export declaration. It covers goods sent to final destination countries at FOB value, where FOB means port price before insurance and freight, in units of 1000 yen. The headline is nominal value, where nominal means current prices, with no seasonal adjustment for calendar effects, and excludes services, domestic sales and volumes.

It covers one calendar reference month of customs clearance with monthly frequency in a series running since 1979. Provisional results appear mid next month at 08:50 Japan time and detailed data with search and download follow near month end at 09:30 Japan time. Correction runs from provisional to detailed to import detail one month later to revised in March and fixed in November of next year. December import detail is not published and figures never change after the fixed release. Each release adds imports trade balance and area country and commodity splits and a positive reading means growth from the same month last year.

Export value sums all declarations so broad demand price and currency forces move it with commodity and regional splits showing where.

• By area and country: captures exports to Asia China Korea USA EU ASEAN Middle East Russia and others.
• By principal commodity: captures world and partner splits by leading goods groups.
• Indexes of trade: captures separate world USA EU Asia and China views.
• Imports and trade balance: captures goods imports year on year and exports minus imports shown beside exports.
• Statistical codes: captures 9 digit declaration codes where letters such as X hide confidential detail.

Provisional data for August 2024, published September 18, 2024, showed exports of 8441883 million yen up 5.6% from 7994407 million yen one year earlier. Imports reached 9137177 million yen up 2.3% from 8934512 million yen for a deficit of 695294 million yen. The deficit narrowed 26.0% from 940105 million yen while detailed data published September 27, 2024 revised exports to 8433484 million yen and 5.5%. Asia exports rose 11.4% to 4662027 million yen and China exports rose 5.2% to 1508804 million yen against a world gain of only 5.6%. Semiconductor making equipment and related parts led gains showing how one commodity group can shape the result.

1. Monthly export total: add FOB values of all declarations cleared in reference month M of year Y in units of 1000 yen rounded down. Call the sum E of M Y.
2. Prior year base: take the same sum for the same month of the previous year and call it E of M Y minus 1.
3. Year on year percent: subtract the base from the current total divide by the base and multiply by 100. In symbols YoY = 100 x (E_t minus E_t12) divided by E_t12. The illustrative August 2024 example against August 2023 gives difference 447476 divided by 7994407 which is 0.05597 and times 100 gives 5.6%.
4. No adjustments: use customs cleared values before seasonal adjustment with no seasonal or price adjustment in the headline.