The current account surplus expanded 34.1 percent in the April-September period compared with a year earlier to hit a record high ¥12.42 trillion, reflecting Japanese investors' sizable gains from overseas investments and growing trade with countries in Europe and Asia, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
The current account, which measures trade in goods and services and investment flows, reached its highest half-year level since fiscal 1985 and marked the fourth straight half-year increase.
The income account, the difference between earnings from Japanese investments in overseas securities and payments made to foreign investors in Japan, widened 22.5 percent to a record ¥8.20 trillion.