Tokyo: Japan's overall exports fell slightly in February, but a big rise in auto shipments to the United States showed exports are continuing to pick up on the back of a recovery in the global economy.
Exports to the US jumped 50 per cent from a year earlier, and analysts calculated that US-bound exports also posted a double-digit gain in seasonally adjusted, month-on-month terms.
Overall exports slipped 1.7 per cent the first fall from the previous month in a full year, as the Lunar New Year in Asia fell in February this year instead of January last year, resulting in slower growth in exports to China, which is now Japan's No 1 export destination.
"The figures overall underline the view that exports are on an up-trend, and the trend may well have strengthened," said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute.
Brisk demand in the world's biggest economy also helped South Korea's exports to the US post their biggest annual gain since 2007.
External demand will likely set the course for Japan's economy in the near term as national debt is almost twice the size of the economy itself, making new fiscal stimulus unlikely soon.
The numbers also helped to alleviate some concerns that Toyota Motor Corporation's massive global recall would have a big impact, although analysts said those worries as well as concerns about the pace of growth in China remain.
