A total amount of Japan’s exports of agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products has been on track for growth in recent years. In 2016, however, it is likely to level off.
The exports of those products amounted to 669.9 billion yen in January-November 2016, only 1 billion yen or 0.1 percent up over the relevant period of 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on January 12.
Sales of farm products such as rice, beef, and green tea have been continuously increasing in overseas markets.
It is anticipated, however, that exports of fishery products will experience a slump during many years to come because a poor catch of fish is going to last.
The export of fishery products in January-November 2016 declined to 235.6 billion yen, 5.6 percent lower than that in the same period of 2015. An annual export of those products in 2016 will probably fail to reach the same level as that in the previous year.
Exports of farm products in the January-November 2016 period rose to 410.2 billion yen by 3.7 percent over the same period in 2015.
Among major farm products, sales of Japanese beef increased to 11.4 billion yen in the international market during the January-November 2016 period, surpassing an annual record of 11.0 billion yen in 2015.
Japanese rice also enjoyed larger sales in overseas markets, increasing to 2.3 billion yen by 0.1 billion yen during the eleven months in 2016, because of a worldwide Japanese food boom.
The export of green tea in January-November 2016 also boosted to 10.3 billion yen by 0.2 billion yen thanks to a continuous increase of health-oriented consumers in Western countries. Green tea’s export in 2016 is certain to break the previous annual record.