Tokyo, February 08 (QNA) - Japan's current account surplus nearly halved in 2022 from a year earlier to 11.44 trillion Yen ($87 billion), its lowest level in eight years, weighed down by a record trade deficit caused by swelling imports and a weakening Yen.

Japan's (Kyodo) News Agency quoted the Japanese Ministry of Finance as saying that the biggest ever year-on-year decline of 10.15 trillion Yen came despite a record surplus in primary income, which reflects returns on foreign investments made by Japanese firms, underscoring the magnitude of the hit to resource-scarce Japan from surging imports of higher-priced energy and other items.

The nation's surplus in the current account, one of the widest gauges of international trade, was the smallest since hitting 3.92 trillion Yen in 2014.

Japan's trade deficit stood at 15.78 trillion Yen after imports jumped 42.0 percent to 114.47 trillion Yen, outpacing exports that grew 19.9 percent to 98.69 trillion Yen.

Primary income came to a surplus of 35.31 trillion Yen, quadrupling from a year earlier.

In 2022, the yen fell nearly 20 percent against the US dollar, which inflated the value of imports to the detriment of the nation but boosted the overseas earnings of Japanese exporters. (QNA)