Japan Swings to Trade Deficit as Exports Sink on Europe: Economy

Japan had a wider-than-estimated trade deficit in July as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and a slowdown in China dragged down exports and nuclear shutdowns boosted energy imports.

The shortfall was 517.4 billion yen ($6.5 billion), after a revised 60.3 billion yen surplus in June, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 28 analysts was for a 270 billion yen deficit. Exports fell 8.1 percent from a year earlier, compared with an estimated 2.9 percent drop. Imports rose 2.1 percent.