Japan flag Japan: Economic and Political Overview

Foreign trade figures of Japan

Foreign Trade in Figures

Foreign trade is an essential element of the Japanese economy, but the country is not fully open and imposes extensive non-tariff barriers, especially in the agricultural sector. Japan is among the world's largest exporters and importers of goods, and foreign trade accounts for 45% of its GDP (World Bank, 2024 – latest data available). The country mainly exports motor cars (14.3% of all exports in 2025), electronic integrated circuits (4.8%), semiconductor manufacturing equipment (4.1%), gold (3.4%), parts and accessories for motor vehicles (3.3%), and earth-moving machines (1.6%). The country's main imports include crude oil (8.5%), petroleum gas (5.8%), telephones (3.9%), electronic integrated circuits (3.2%), computers (3.1%), and coal (2.9% - data Comtrade for 2025).

Japan’s main export partners in 2025 were the United States (18.6%), China (17.0%), Taiwan (7.2%), South Korea (6.3%), and Hong Kong (5.8%); whereas imports came chiefly from China (23.6%), the U.S. (11.6%), Australia (6.0%), Taiwan (4.4%), and the UAE (4.3% - data Comtrade). Japan is the EU’s second-biggest trading partner in Asia after China. The two parties signed an Economic Partnership Agreement, which entered into force in 2019. Moreover, Japan signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), arguably the largest free trade agreement in history (its signatories include China, Australia, South Korea, etc., cumulating about 30% of global GDP). The RCEP agreement entered into force on 1 January 2022.

Traditionally, the country has a large trade surplus; however, in recent years, the trend has been inverted and the balance was negative by 0.9% of GDP in 2024 (World Bank), from 1.5% one year earlier. In 2025, Japan's exports of goods reached USD 738.3 billion (+4.4% year-on-year), while imports amounted to USD 755.6 billion (+1.6% y-o-y). Concerning the service sector, exports increased by 7.2% year-on-year to USD 246.1 billion, whereas imports - at USD 269.2 billion – increased at a similar pace (7.4%). According to preliminary figures from the Ministry of Finance, exports totalled JPY 110.4 trillion in 2025 (+3.1%), whereas imports reached JPY 113.1 trillion, marking a 0.3% increase year-on-year.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20212022202320242025
Imports of Goods (million USD) 768,976899,941787,199743,498755,553
Exports of Goods (million USD) 756,032746,824717,256707,009738,337
Imports of Services (million USD) 209,502212,608232,798250,639269,032
Exports of Services (million USD) 170,818170,358209,020229,538246,025

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20212022202320242025
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 35.444.943.644.9n/a
Trade Balance (million USD) 16,706-115,689-48,699-18,006-3,742
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) -21,811-157,923-72,877-39,104-26,841
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 4.78.0-0.40.9n/a
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 11.85.33.10.9n/a
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 18.024.222.522.9n/a
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 17.520.621.122.0n/a

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 2026 (e)2027 (e)2028 (e)2029 (e)2030 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 0.71.21.31.31.3
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) 2.02.12.02.02.0

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Japan is a member of the following international economic organisations: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (dialogue partner of ASEAN Plus Three), G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IMF, OECD, among others. For the full list of economic and other international organisations in which participates Japan click here. International organisation membership of Japan is also outlined here.
Free Trade Agreements
Japan is a member of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) signed on 15 November 2020. The complete and up-to-date list of Free Trade Agreements signed by Japan can be consulted here.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2025
United States 18.6%
China 17.0%
South Korea 6.3%
Hong Kong SAR, China 5.8%
Thailand 3.8%
See More Countries 48.5%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2025
China 23.6%
United States 11.6%
Australia 6.0%
United Arab Emirates 4.3%
Vietnam 4.0%
See More Countries 50.4%

Source: Comtrade, 2026. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

Main Products

708.5 bn USD of products exported in 2025
Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally...Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702) 14.3%
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 4.8%
Machines and apparatus of a kind used solely or...Machines and apparatus of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of semiconductor boules or wafers, semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits or flat panel displays; machines and apparatus specified in note 9 C to chapter 84; parts and accessories, n.e.s. 4.1%
Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought...Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought or not further worked than semi-manufactured or in powder form 3.4%
Parts and accessories for tractors, motor vehicles...Parts and accessories for tractors, motor vehicles for the transport of ten or more persons, motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons, motor vehicles for the transport of goods and special purpose motor vehicles of heading 8701 to 8705, n.e.s. 3.3%
See More Products 70.1%
725.5 bn USD of products imported in 2025
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude 8.5%
Petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbonsPetroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons 5.8%
Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular...Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, incl. apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network [such as a local or wide area network]; parts thereof (excl. than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528) 3.9%
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 3.2%
Automatic data-processing machines and units...Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, n.e.s. 3.1%
See More Products 75.5%

Source: Comtrade, 2026. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

To go further, check out our service Import-Export Flows.

 

Main Services

169.5 bn USD of services exported in 2022
27.50%
26.52%
17.27%
7.03%
6.10%
5.27%
4.24%
2.02%
1.25%
1.13%
0.89%
0.77%
210.7 bn USD of services imported in 2022
37.06%
17.31%
13.19%
10.67%
6.16%
4.48%
2.75%
2.62%
2.31%
1.72%
1.09%
0.65%

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

Return to top

Any Comment About This Content? Report It to Us.

 

© eexpand, All Rights Reserved.
Latest Update: October 2026