TOKYO, July 11 ― Japan’s food exports rose for the third consecutive month in May, with growing steadily to reach the nation’s target of 1 trillion yen in agricultural exports in 2019, official data has showed.
Shipments of products such as agri-food, meat and seafood rose 22% to 70.2 billion yen in May, which was 12.5 billion yen higher in the same month a year earlier, according to the agriculture ministry.
Combining January to May, the nation’s food exports rose 15% to 353.3 billion yen from the same period a year earlier.
Japan has set a target of 1 annual trillion yen in agricultural exports in 2019, and it needs 11.3 percent annual growth rate, if it wants to reach the target.
By destination, food exports to China in May gained 54% on-year to 12.2 billion yen, whose figure was closer to Hong Kong, Japan’s largest food exporting market.
Those to Thailand also jumped 50%; Vietnam surged 48%; and Hong Kong rose 35% from a year earlier to 14.8 billion yen.
Last year, the nation’s agriculture exports totaled a record 807.1 billion yen, but at a slower pace than the government had hoped for.