Japan trade deficit hits record 3.5 trillion yen in January

Japan’s trade deficit hit a record high of 3.5 trillion yen ($26 billion) in January as energy import prices soared and export growth slowed, Japan’s finance ministry said on Thursday.

The deficit rose about 1.6 times from a year earlier and surpassed the record 2.82 trillion yen set in August last year, underscoring the vulnerability of a resource-poor country dependent on other countries for energy. Japan’s finance ministry said Japan had registered a trade deficit for the 18th consecutive month.