Doha – Mubasher: Qatar's trade surplus with Japan witnessed a 2.1% year-on-year growth to JPY 79.14 billion ($707.07 million) in June, according to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Thursday.

The MoF’s annual report showed a 0.3% year-on-year fall in Qatar’s exports to Japan to reach JPY 88.27 billion ($788.65 million) in June.

Qatar’s imports from Japan dropped 17.2% to JPY 9.13 billion ($81.57 million) last month.

Japan’s trade surplus with Middle Eastern countries recorded a 9.6% growth in June 2017, compared to the same period in 2016.

Overall, the Middle East’s imports from Japan declined 10.4% to JPY 196.8 billion ($1.76 million) in June, while the region’s exports to Japan rose 1.4% to JPY 547.29 billion ($4.89 million).

Despite a 9.7% growth in Japan’s overall exports, the trade balance surplus declined sharply on the back of higher imports.