Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 105.7 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
That missed forecasts for a surplus of 357.0 billion yen and was down from 316.7 billion yen in November.
Exports were up 5.1 percent on year at 9.906 trillion yen – shy of expectations for a gain of 6.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous month.
Imports climbed an annual 5.3 percent to 9.978 trillion yen versus forecasts for an increase of 3.6 percent and up from 1.3 percent from a month earlier.
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