TOKYO: Japan's exports fell for a fifth straight month in July, but not as sharply as expected, raising hopes for a gradual recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, official data showed Thursday.
Exports fell 3.3 percent from a year ago to 5.78 trillion yen ($75.4 billion), beating market expectations of a 4.4-percent fall, the Finance Ministry said.
Japan still managed to record a trade surplus of 72.5 billion yen -- 90.8 percent lower than the same month last year, and nearly matching the market forecast of a 70.1 billion yen surplus.
Meanwhile, imports grew 9.9 percent to 5.71 trillion yen on rising energy prices, the ministry said.
Export-oriented manufacturers have continued to rebound after the March disaster hit Japan's northeast, destroying factories and infrastructure and disrupting industrial supply chains.
Economists have generally expected Asia's second largest economy to continue to strengthen in the months to come, fuelled by reconstruction demand, although Japan faces the risks of a strong yen and a global slowdown.
Data on Monday showed that Japan's economy shrank less than expected in the April-June quarter, fuelling hopes that Asia's second-biggest economy will grow again in the July-September quarter.
The Cabinet Office said Japan's economy shrank an annualised 1.3 percent in the first full quarter since the nation's worst post-war disaster -- beating bleak market expectations of a 2.7-percent contraction.
But the fall in exports worried some analysts, who said the persistent strength of the yen and the uncertainty involving the US and the eurozone economies posed risks for Japan.
The latest data "could be signalling that the nation's exports have started to slow due to weaker growth in overseas economies," said Norio Miyagawa, senior economists at Mizuho Research and Consulting.
"Though we need to check more data in the coming months, the decline in exports volume is a bit worrisome," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
- AFP/cc
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