Japan Balance of Payments
August 9th, 2008
Japan has been quite consistent in its balance of payments over the years. Traditionally Japan has had a bit of a deficit when it comes to services; however that deficit is largely overshadowed by the huge surplus generated by Japan’s trade.
Japan is one of the biggest producers of goods in the world, particularly in the field of electronics. And though there are occasional dips and rises in their numbers most of the time Japan stays well within the green zone as its trading partners continue to rely on their products. And as the income surplus continues to grow - which it is doing each year - Japan’s condition can only continue to improve.
Will their service industry ever improve accordingly? Possibly. There’s no reason to think that Japan’s ignoring its service industry. But the huge advantage afforded by the production of goods is more than enough to shuffle service improvements onto a back burner of sorts.