TOKYO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's trade deficit in fiscal 2023 shrank around 70 percent from a year earlier to 5.89 trillion yen (about 38 billion U.S. dollars), government data showed Wednesday.

In the fiscal year ended March, exports expanded 3.7 percent to 102.90 trillion yen, topping 100 trillion yen for the first time and marking a record high for the third straight year, according to a preliminary Finance Ministry report.

Automobile exports, which account for about 17 percent of Japan's total, grew 30.2 percent to 17.88 trillion yen, eclipsing the previous record of 14.67 trillion yen in fiscal 2007.

In contrast, imports dived 10.3 percent to 108.79 trillion yen, falling for the first time in three years, chiefly reflecting falls in imports of coal and liquefied natural gas.

With a weaker yen inflating Japan's import costs and accelerating inflation, the result marked a deficit for the third straight year following a record 22.06 trillion yen deficit in fiscal 2022.

Data for the month of March, also released Wednesday, showed that Japan registered a trade surplus of 366.5 billion yen, the first surplus in three months, against the year-before deficit of 750.9 billion yen.

In March, exports swelled to 9.47 trillion yen, up 7.3 percent from a year ago, while imports declined 4.9 percent to 9.10 trillion yen. (1 yen equals 0.0065 USD) Enditem

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