TOKYO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Japan's current account surplus fell 15.7 percent in November from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.

The nation's current account surplus in the recording period stood at 926.2 billion yen (11.12 billion U.S. dollars), the ministry said.

Additionally, the ministry noted that the balance of trade in goods and services logged a surplus of 160.4 billion yen (1.92 billion U.S. dollars) in November, a drop of 63.6 percent.

The balance of trade is the difference between Japan's exports of goods and services and its imports of goods and services, if all financial transfers, investments and other components are ignored.

Japan's current account balance is one of the major gauges of the nature of Japan's foreign trade and a current account surplus increases Japan's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse.

Both government and private payments are included in the calculation.