Japan posted a trade deficit of ¥2.79 trillion ($27.3 billion) in January, its largest monthly trade loss, amid growing fossil-fuel imports, the government said on Thursday.
Japan’s imports jumped 25 per cent from a year earlier, to a record ¥8.04 trillion, while its exports rose 9.5 per cent to ¥5.25 trillion, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Japan has imported more petroleum and liquefied natural gas for power generation since the shutdown of nuclear reactors across the country following its worst atomic disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011.
The falling yen and growing demand for energy have driven up import costs.