The value of Japan's agricultural and seafood exports in the first six months of 2022 expanded 13.1% from a year earlier, marking a record high for the period as waning coronavirus cases encouraged more people to eat out, government data showed Friday.
Exports in the January to June period totaled ¥652.5 billion ($4.9 billion), supported by robust shipments to the United States as well as a weaker yen, according to the data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
A range of items also hit record highs, with exports of scallops climbing 67.8% to ¥38.7 billion and those of yellowtail rising 64.5% to ¥20.9 billion. Both marine products were supported by growing demand from Japanese restaurants in the United States.
Japanese sake exports increased 33.7% to ¥23.4 billion, lifted by online shopping.
Exports of strawberries, immensely popular in Asia, also increased by 29.7%.
Meanwhile, exports of beef fell 5.2% to ¥21.4 billion after the U.S. sharply hiked tariffs on Japanese beef shipments in late March.
By market, China was the biggest buyer of Japanese agricultural exports with a 18.0% increase to ¥120.1 billion, followed by the U.S., up 34.5% to ¥104.6 billion.
However, shipments to Hong Kong sank 10.9% to ¥91.7 billion, dented by restrictions on dining out following a surge of COVID-19 cases.
The government has set a target of raising annual agricultural and seafood exports to ¥2 trillion by 2025 and to ¥5 trillion by 2030.
Of the total export amount, small cargoes — worth ¥200,000 or less per item and included in the shipment data since 2020 — accounted for ¥36.1 billion.
The value of exports in June, released the same day, rose 24.0% from a year earlier to ¥117.3 billion.