Japan: Exports Decline In May

Econintersect:  Japan suffered the first year-over-year drop in exports in fifteen months in May 2014.   Loss of exports to Asia and the U.S. were at the heart of the decline.  The decline of 2.7% came as a surprise to many observers.  The failure to continue export growth will put the Japanese strategy to end 20 years of deflation at risk.  If this becomes a trend Abenomics, the Japanese monetary stimulus policy of the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is in big trouble.  The Japanese slump in exports to the U.S. was in contrast to South Korea which reported a 5.5% increase.

The exports for May were the second lowest for one month in the past year. The decline from April was 7.6%.