Japanese exports fell for the ninth straight month in August, data showed on Wednesday, as shipments from the world’s number three economy flail amid a global slowdown and trade tensions. 

Provisional statistics released by the Ministry of Finance showed that exports from Japan fell by 8.2 per cent year on year during the month, marking their worst performance since January. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that shipments would fall by an even worse 10.9 per cent. In July, they fell 1.2 per cent. 

Exports to China, Japan’s biggest trading partner, were down 12.1 per cent, while those to the US slipped 4.4 per cent. Exports to South Korea, with whom Japan has been embroiled in ugly  trade dispute in recent months, peeled back 9.4 per cent. Among the exported goods categories to show downturns during the period were automobiles, machinery and other manufactured goods.