Japan reported a current account surplus of 4.682 trillion yen in March, up 29.1% from 3.625 trillion yen a year earlier, preliminary data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday showed.
That figure was higher than the consensus estimate for a surplus of 3.879 trillion yen and the 3.933 trillion yen surplus in February.
Exports grew 11.7% year over year to 10.822 trillion yen from 9.691 trillion yen, and imports climbed 10% to 9.992 trillion yen from 9.079 trillion yen a year before, the report said.
The goods account surplus widened 36% to 830.5 billion yen from 611.3 billion yen in the prior year, and the primary income surplus jumped 20.8% to 4.631 trillion yen from 3.833 trillion yen, the report said.