Japan has posted a monthly record trade deficit of $US27.3 billion ($A30.42 billion) in January, data shows, as a weak yen pushed up post-Fukushima energy costs, despite upbeat exports to the US, China and Europe.
The country's trade deficit ballooned to Y2.79 trillion ($A30.42 billion), up 70.8 per cent from a year earlier, the finance ministry said.
The growing imbalance was stoked by a 25 per cent jump in imports to a record Y8.04 trillion on soaring bills for oil and gas purchases, after Japan shuttered its nuclear reactors.
Exports rose 9.5 per cent to Y5.25 trillion, partly driven by a jump in shipments of vehicles.
The figures marked the latest batch of worrying news for Japan after the country's sizzling GDP growth slowed to a crawl in the fourth-quarter of last year, and as it posted a record trade deficit through 2013.
