Japan booked a current account surplus of 2.989 trillion yen in July, swinging from a deficit of 92.3 billion yen a month earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in a Tuesday release.
The surplus topped the market consensus forecast of 2.870 trillion yen, according to Trading Economics.
It also exceeded the surplus of 2.586 trillion yen in the previous year.
The primary driver of the shift was a growth in exports, which rose to 11.256 trillion yen from 10.480 trillion yen in June. The figure was also up from 9.07 trillion yen in the same period last year.