Japan's goods trade deficit in the January to June period shrank 77.4 percent from a year earlier to ¥1.73 trillion ($13.9 billion), due partly to smaller imports on the back of declining crude oil prices, the government said Thursday.
The smaller deficit, which followed a record-high deficit of ¥7.63 trillion the previous year, is also attributed to increased vehicle exports to the United States and semiconductor parts to Asia as well as overall economic recovery and the yen's depreciation.
During the first half of 2015, the value of exports increased 7.9 percent from a year earlier to ¥37.81 trillion, while imports dropped 7.4 percent to ¥39.53 trillion, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.