Japan posted a 20th consecutive current-account surplus, helping an economy that is still struggling to rebound from a contraction in the final quarter of 2015.

The excess in the widest measure of the nation's trade was ¥2.43 trillion in February, the biggest surplus since March last year, according to data released Friday by the Finance Ministry. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a surplus of ¥2.03 trillion.

Exports fell 5.5 percent from a year earlier to ¥5.64 trillion amid a slowdown in emerging markets, while imports plunged 14.6 percent to ¥5.22 trillion.