JAPAN’S FOOD EXPORTS REACHED A NEW HIGH IN 2022 AMID GLOBAL UPTURN IN RESTAURANT SECTOR

Japan achieved record food exports last year, helped in part by a recovery in the global restaurant sector as Covid-19 restrictions eased.

The milestone was reached by the end of November, by which time total overseas sales of agricultural, fishery and forestry products totalled 1.2433 trillion yen (€8.7777 trillion).

This figure is 15.4% up on the same 11-month period in 2021 and represents the tenth year of increases in a row.

Reports said there were particularly rapid increases in exports of Japanese seafood, some categories of which jumped almost 50% in sales.

Other notable increases were seen in the beverages sector, with the value of sake and whiskey exports jumping by more than one fifth, according to reports.

When the Covid-19 pandemic spread worldwide in early 2020, countless governments imposed restrictions on eating out, forcing many restaurants to close.

However, last year many countries loosened rules, allowing venues to reopen, with Japan’s exports benefiting from changes in the US and Europe in particular.

Another factor that helped Japanese food exports was the weakness of the yen, which fell in value relative to the US dollar because interest rates in Japan were being kept low as central banks elsewhere increased them.

In 2021, total agricultural, fishery and forestry overseas sales from Japan were nearly 1.2382 trillion yen (€8.7403 trillion), a figure that the Japanese government aims to grow to two trillion yen (€14.117) by 2025.

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