Japan has generated strong export growth during October 2017, although the nation's trade surplus shrank over the same period.

Data from Japan's ministry of finance has shown that Japanese exports rose by 14 per cent year-on-year in October, thanks to strong demand for vehicles, electronics and machinery, including liquid-crystal device production equipment and raw materials for plastics to China.

This was lower than the 15.8 per cent annual gain forecast by economists polled by Reuters, but nevertheless represented a strong increase, and followed a 14.1 per cent increase in September.

At the same time, Japan's imports rose by 19 per cent from the same month last year, due to higher costs for crude oil and other commodities.This meant that the trade surplus dropped by more than 40 per cent from the year before.

Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said: "We expect real export growth to slow from six per cent year-on-year this year to three percent in 2018."