TOKYO: Japan posted a trade surplus of 520.64 billion yen (5.7 billion dollars) in September, an almost six-fold jump from 90.97 billion yen a year earlier, official figures showed Thursday.

It was the eighth consecutive month that Japan has posted a trade surplus. Exports in September fell 30.7 percent to 5.10 trillion yen while imports tumbled 36.9 percent to 4.58 trillion yen.