Last month, the value of exports fell by 1.2 percent year-on-year to 6.38 trillion yen ($57.2 billion) from 8.4 percent in January, the biggest decline in more than two years.
According to the Ministry of Finance of Japan, the reduced exports were largely due to the slowdown in China's economy owing to the US-China trade dispute, as well as slower economic growth in other Asian countries.
In February, imports to Japan declined at the sharpest rate in two years by 6.7 percent year-on-year to 6.05 trillion yen, after slumping 1.8 percent in January.
Japanese exports to China, its biggest trading partner, increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year, following a reduction of 17.4 percent a month earlier. In addition, exports to the United States grew by 2 percent, while that to the countries of Western Europe rose by 2.5 percent.
Japan’s shipments to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region mostly decreased, with exports to Singapore, South Korea, and Australia down by 18.2 percent, 14 percent, and 13.3 percent, respectively.
Japan's foreign trade balance came to a surplus of 339 billion yen in February 2019 compared to a deficit of 1.42 trillion yen in January.
