EXPORTS from six Asean countries fell 2.2 per cent last year compared with 2019.
Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) said data from the countries showed that their total exports were US$1.35 trillion.
According to a Kyodo News report, of the six Asean nations, only Vietnam posted an increase in exports for the year, up 7.0 per cent to US$282.66 billion.
Citing Hanoi's Customs authorities, Jetro said Vietnam's exports to Japan dropped by 5.2 per cent, but exports to the United States rose by 25.7 per cent and to China by 18 per cent.
However, Vietnam's growing trade surplus with Washington and Hanoi's interventions in the foreign exchange market prompted the US Treasury Department last December to label the country as a currency manipulator for the first time.
Among the other Asean nations mentioned in the report, the Philippines logged a 10.1 per cent fall in exports, followed by a contraction of 6.0 per cent in Thailand, 4.1 per cent in Singapore and 2.6 per cent each in Malaysia and Indonesia.
It said the combined trade surplus of the six countries tripled to US$133.66 billion, as easing energy prices and shrinking domestic demand led to steeper declines in imports than exports.
Thailand's trade surplus surged 144.5 per cent, compared with an 83.5 per cent increase for Vietnam, Singapore 43.9 and Malaysia 25.6. The Philippines narrowed its trade deficit by 46.3 per cent to US$21.84 billion while Indonesia chalked up a trade surplus of US$21.74 billion, a turnaround from a deficit of US$3.6 billion in 2019.
Singapore accounted for 27.4 per cent of the six countries' total trade by value last year, followed by Vietnam at 21.3 per cent, Thailand 17.1, Malaysia 16.5, Indonesia 11.9 and the Philippines 5.8.
Meanwhile, The Phnom Penh Post reported that trade between Cambodia and the Eurasian Economic Union was worth US$67.37 million last year, marking an increase of 18.22 per cent from US$56.98 million in 2019.
According to data from the Commerce Ministry, Cambodia exported US$52.19 million, up from the US$51.81 million in 2019, and imported US$15.18 million, ballooning 193.57 per cent from US$5.17 million.
Trade between Cambodia and other Asean countries hit US$11.33 billion last year.
This marks a 22.42 per cent increase from the US$9.254 billion posted in 2019.