Japanese car exports to Russia soaring – data

The surge comes amid overall growth in trade and tourism between the countries

Japan exported 132.2% more passenger cars to Russia in September 2024 than in the same month last year, despite Tokyo’s pledge to put the brakes on automotive sales to the sanctions-hit country, data published by the country’s Finance Ministry on Thursday revealed.

Tokyo also boosted its exports of spare vehicle parts and components to Russia by 21.3% year-on-year in September, according to the latest figures.

The surge comes after Japan reduced shipments of passenger cars to Russia by 11.3% in April – September 2024 compared to the same period last year.

Overall trade turnover between Russia and Japan has been experiencing an uptick in the past two months for the first time since 2022.

In August the exchange of goods between the countries soared 23.8%, reaching 105.59 billion yen ($743 million) and in September mutual trade grew by 22.7% to 98.6 billion yen ($659 million), the ministry data showed.

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Trade turnover in September was largely bolstered by Japan’s car supplies, which amounted to 65% of all goods sold and by Russia’s energy exports to its Asian neighbor, which totaled 70%.

Last month Tokyo ramped up purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 11.7% compared to the same period in 2023. However, in the first half of the year, Japan’s LNG imports declined by 7.1%, data showed. 

Although Japan is pursuing a policy of “tough sanctions” against Russia as was previously stated by the country’s authorities, Tokyo continues to participate in Russian energy projects on Sakhalin Island due to their importance for Japan’s energy security.

The country also increased grain imports from Russia by 997.9%, vegetables by 100% and seafood by 21.6% in September compared to the same month last year.

People-to-people contacts have also grown as tourist traffic from Russia to Japan has more than doubled over the past year.  In the first nine months of 2024, 63,900 Russian tourists arrived in Japan, which is 136.1% more than in the same period last year, according to Japan National Tourism Organization.