(Update) Japan's 2010 Current Account Surplus Up For 1st Time in 3 Yrs

Tokyo, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan's current account surplus in 2010 posted the first rise in three years as its goods trade surplus almost doubled on robust exports mainly to Asia, government data showed Tuesday.
The current account surplus increased 28.5 pct from the previous year to 17,080.1 billion yen, according to the balance of payments data from the Finance Ministry.
Japan's goods trade surplus jumped 98.0 pct to 7,996.9 billion yen, up for the second consecutive year, led by brisk exports of automobiles and other products to Asia.
Still, the trade surplus was down 30 pct from the level in 2007, when the world had yet to face the financial crisis.
Exports in 2010 jumped 25.7 pct to 63,920.3 billion yen, the first increase in three years, with Asia-bound exports growing 29.0 pct to top 10 trillion yen for the first time ever.
Meanwhile, imports grew 19.4 pct to 55,923.4 billion yen, the first rise in two years, led by a 30 pct rise in crude oil prices.
In services trade, Japan's deficit shrank to a record low of 1,476.8 billion yen, compared with the previous year's deficit of 1,913.2 billion yen, thanks to a rise in spending by foreign tourists to Japan and increased royalties Japanese firms received from abroad.
As a result, Japan's goods and services trade surplus more than tripled to 6,520.1 billion yen.
The income account surplus fell 5.5 pct to 11,641.4 billion yen, the third straight decrease, due to impacts from the yen's appreciation against other currencies and a drop in foreign interest rates.
In December alone, Japan's current account surplus jumped 30.5 from a year before to 1,195.3 billion yen, the first increase in two months.