Japan posted a trade deficit of 964 billion yen ($9.36 billion) in July, for the 25th consecutive month of trade loss, amid growing fossil-fuel imports, the Government said on Wednesday.
Japan’s imports rose 2.3 per cent from a year earlier, to 7.15 trillion yen, while the value of exports grew 3.9 per cent to 6.19 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Japan has imported more petroleum and liquefied natural gas for power generation as all of the nation’s nuclear reactors have been offline following the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.