Japan's current account surplus in May dropped 27.9 percent from a year earlier as a continued rapid fall in the number of foreign visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic worsened the travel balance, government data showed Wednesday.

The balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade, stood at ¥1.18 trillion ($11 billion), remaining in the black for the 71st straight month, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

The surplus shrank for the third month in a row. It declined 84.2 percent in April.