Trade statistics for January showed a trade deficit of more than 3 trillion yen, the largest deficit in a month.
According to the Finance Ministry's announcement, the trade balance in January, which is the difference between imports and exports, was a deficit of 3.4966 trillion yen.
The trade deficit was the 18th straight month and the largest one-month deficit since 1979, when statistics are available.
The increase in the trade deficit was due to an increase in imports but a slump in exports, and the value of imports in January was 17.8% lower than in the same month last year due to rising energy prices such as crude oil and LNG (liquefied natural gas). % increase to 10,047.8 billion yen.
On the other hand, the export value was 6.5512 trillion yen, which was 3.5% higher than the same month last year, but remained small compared to the increase in exports.
Of this, exports to China, the country's largest trading partner, fell by 17.1%.
This year, there was a Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday in January, and the stagnation of corporate activities had a major impact.
As the value of imports continues to increase due to rising energy prices and the depreciation of the yen, the future of the trade deficit will depend on whether the value of exports will expand in the future.