Region - March/April exports

For most of the last couple of years the region has benefited from a very strong export cycle. External momentum has softened in recent months, but the downturn hasn't yet become very sharp. Data this week from across different economies suggests that there's no change yet in this picture.

Overall, Japan's export performance has been the weaker than that of its neighbours in 2020-21. But March data show that exports in absolute terms remain at a high level. The weakness of the JPY is also supporting earnings from exports in local currency terms, which is important for corporate profits.

Taiwan's exports have been strongest in the last two years, in large part because of demand for the production of TSMC. Export order data for March this week reversed the trend of recent months and accelerated in YoY terms. That is significant for Taiwan itself, but also China, given many Taiwan firms have their biggest production facilities across the Taiwan Strait.

Korea's export growth has been tracking somewhere between the other two economies. YoY growth in exports for the first 20 days of April ticked up from March. Taking the average of the last three months and the trend is still down, but the level of exports so far in April has been quite strong.