Japan posted a trade deficit of 1.29 trillion yen ($12.6 billion) in November, the 17th consecutive month of trade loss, due to a weaker yen and growing imports of fossil fuel, the Government said Wednesday.
Imports grew 21.1 per cent to 7.19 trillion yen for the 13th straight month of increase, while exports climbed 18.4 per cent to 5.9 trillion yen for the ninth consecutive month of rise, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Petroleum imports jumped 34.9 per cent from a year earlier, and liquefied natural gas imports rose 37.4 per cent, the ministry said.
Fossil-fuel imports have risen for thermal power generation after the shutdown of nuclear reactors following Japan’s worst atomic accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, caused by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The value of imports from China, Japan’s biggest trading partner, grew 19.4 per cent from a year earlier to 1.68 trillion yen, while shipments to the world’s second-largest economy jumped 33.1 per cent to 1.14 trillion yen.
Japan’s trade deficit with China stood at 537.1 billion yen, down 2.1 per cent from a year earlier.
Imports from the United States rose 34.9 per cent to 647.2 billion yen, and shipments to the world’s biggest economy climbed 21.2 per cent to 1.13 trillion yen.