In September, Japan achieved a historic peak in its exports, marking the first increase in three months. This surge was primarily attributed to automakers ramping up their deliveries to the U.S. and Europe, no longer constrained by the global chip shortage that had hindered their operations the previous year.

The growth in exports amounted to 4.3%, surpassing the expectations of economists who had predicted a 3.1% rise, in contrast to the 0.8% decline observed in August. The total value of these shipments reached 9.2 trillion yen ($61 billion), representing a 2% increase compared to the previous record set in October the previous year, according to Reuters.

Takeshi Minami, the chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, remarked that the overall strength of exports was evident despite concerns about a global economic slowdown.

Simultaneously, Japan experienced a more substantial-than-anticipated decline in imports, with a decrease of 16.3%. This was attributed to the baseline effects of higher energy costs