Japan’s exports rose the most in eight months in October, supporting an economy that fell into recession last quarter.

Overseas shipments rose 9.6 percent from a year earlier to the highest level since October 2008, the finance ministry said, compared with the median estimate for a 4.5 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports grew 2.7 percent, leaving a trade deficit of 710 billion yen ($6 billion).

Rising exports provide support for an economy that contracted for two straight quarters after a sales tax increase in April. The weaker yen championed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the central bank may bolster shipments further as Japan heads to an election next month.

“The weaker yen’s boost to car shipments and a recovery in Asia is driving a pickup in Japan’s exports,” said Minoru Nogimori, an economist at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Imports will fall from November as declining petroleum prices offset the effect of the yen’s depreciation.”

The yen traded at 118.33 per dollar at 12:49 p.m. in Tokyo, after earlier touching the lowest level since August 2007. The currency has dropped 11 percent in value this year as the Bank of Japan implements its unprecedented easing program while the U.S. economy recovers and the Federal Reserve ends its quantitative easing.

The Topix index of stocks was 0.3 percent higher at the morning break today.

Rising Volumes

Export volumes climbed 3.8 percent from September to the highest since March last year, and the volume of imports was little changed. Exports of cars, ships and steel were some of the biggest contributors to the rise, with the value of motor vehicle shipments gaining 6.2 percent on increasing sales to the EU and Asia.

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) this month raised its profit forecast to a record 2 trillion yen while Nintendo Co. (7974), Honda Motor Co. (7267) and Nissan Motor Co. (7201) also cited the weak yen for improved quarterly results.

The nation has posted 28 straight monthly trade deficits as energy import costs surged after all nuclear power plants were shut down in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. The value of crude oil imports declined almost 11 percent, with the price down 32 percent price since a June peak. Total mineral fuel imports declined 5.9 percent.

Surprise Recession

Gross domestic product in the July-September quarter shrank an annualized 1.6 percent, putting the world’s third-biggest economy in its fourth recession since 2008 and pushing Abe to delay a further sales tax increase.

Manufacturers saw output growth weakening in November from the previous month, according to a preliminary purchasing managers index.

“The Japanese economy is already starting to recover from the sales-tax hike,” Takuji Okubo, an economist at Japan Macro Advisors in Tokyo, said in a Bloomberg Television interview, citing export gains and rising retail sales and machinery orders.

Bloomberg