TOKYO -- Japan's imports of digital-related services are on track to exceed exports by more than 6 trillion yen ($39 billion) in 2024, an annual record, underscoring the need for companies to create more value from their costly digital transition.
The deficit, which tallies cloud service fees, streaming licensing fees, online advertising and similar items from government balance-of-trade data, swelled from roughly 2 trillion yen in 2014 to 5.3 trillion yen in 2023. It had reached 5.4 trillion yen by October so far this year, with each month adding half a trillion yen to the total.
