Japan key market for Taiwanese agricultural exports: Ministry

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Japan has been one of the top three destinations for Taiwan's agricultural exports for the past three years, the Ministry of Agriculture said Tuesday as Foodex Japan 2025, Asia's largest food trade show, kicked off.

Data from the ministry shows that key exports to Japan between 2022 and 2024 included frozen tuna, orchids and other live flowers, as well as feathers and down.

According to the ministry, frozen tuna shipments to Japan consistently accounted for over half of Taiwan's annual tuna exports during that period, while orchids and live flowers made up 14 to 18.4 percent, and feathers and down ranged from 5.6 to 17.7 percent.

Conversely, Taiwan's top agricultural imports from Japan over the past three years included fresh chilled beef, which accounted for 9.4 to 13.1 percent of the nation's total beef imports.

In addition, Japanese alcoholic beverages ranked among Taiwan's top imports in 2022, making up 9.5 percent of total imports in that category, the ministry said.

In 2024, fresh chilled apples ranked ninth among Taiwan's agricultural imports, with Japan accounting for 23.9 percent of total apple imports, following the United States and New Zealand.

Taiwan's agricultural exports to Japan totaled US$856 million in 2022, representing 16.3 percent of overall agricultural exports and marking an 11 percent annual increase. However, in 2023, exports declined by 16 percent to US$719 million, accounting for 14.7 percent of total exports.

In 2024, Japan ranked as Taiwan's third-largest agricultural export market, with exports falling by 10 percent to US$648 million, behind the U.S. (US$887 million, 18 percent) and China (US$747 million, 15.2 percent).

The ministry attributed the decline to global inflation, rising interest rates, and the depreciation of the Japanese yen, adding that higher global grain prices also constrained Japan's overall import capacity.