The nation's customs-cleared trade surplus plunged 43.1 percent from a year earlier to 3.3 trillion yen during the first half of fiscal 2001, the Finance Ministry said Monday in a preliminary report.

This marks the fifth consecutive drop since the first half of fiscal 1999, the report says.

Exports during the April-September period posted a year-on-year decline of 6.1 percent to 24.33 trillion yen, the first drop in four terms.

Imports meanwhile rose 4.6 percent to 21.02 trillion yen for a fourth consecutive term of growth.

The 43.1 percent dive in the trade surplus is the largest on a fiscal half-year basis since the 56.9 percent fall in the second half of fiscal 1978, a ministry official said.

The official attributed the latest drop to shrinking exports of office equipment, semiconductors and other electronics parts amid the global slump in the information technology sector.

Exports of semiconductors and other electronics parts fell 23.2 percent, while those of office equipment, including personal computers, slid 7.1 percent in the half.

Imports of semiconductors and other electronic components fell 14.7 percent, while imports of office equipment shrank 8.8 percent during the period.

In the first half of fiscal 2001, the yen averaged 122.59 to the dollar, down 12.7 percent from a year before.

On a regional basis, Japan's trade surplus with the United States fell 6.5 percent to 3.5 trillion yen during the half, for the first decline in two terms.

The effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on Japanese-U.S. trade are difficult to assess, the official said, because a variety of factors affect trade statistics, including foreign exchange and crude oil prices.

U.S.-bound exports during the six-month period posted a year-on-year fall of 3.9 percent to 7.32 trillion yen for the first fall in four terms.

Imports from the U.S. also fell, by 1.4 percent, for the first drop in three terms.

Japan's trade surplus with the European Union shrank 33.5 percent to 1.12 trillion yen during the half, marking the fifth consecutive term of decline.

Japan's trade surplus with the other Asian economies during the period fell 59.5 percent to 995.2 billion yen, falling for a second straight term.

In September alone, Japan's overall trade surplus registered a year-on-year decline of 18.3 percent to 1.05 trillion yen, according to a separate report by the ministry the same day.

This marked the 15th consecutive month of decline, the report says.

Exports dropped 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 4.16 trillion yen, posting a sixth straight month of decline.

Imports meanwhile dropped 8.3 percent to 3.1 trillion yen, registering a second straight month of decline.

During September, U.S.-bound exports fell 11.9 percent to 1.21 trillion yen, marking the sixth consecutive month of decline.

But imports from the U.S. fell 14.6 percent to 531.5 billion yen, registering a fourth straight month of decline.

As a result, the trade surplus with the U.S. during the month fell 9.6 percent from a year before to 682.9 billion yen, down for the first time in two months.