Tokyo

JAPAN suffered a record trade deficit of 12.8 trillion yen (S$145 billion) in 2014 as surging energy imports and sluggish exports sent the trade balance into the red for a fourth consecutive year, official data showed on Monday. But a pick-up in exports during December raised hopes that the trade imbalance may begin to turn around in 2015.

Imports rose by 5.7 per cent in 2014 from a year earlier to 85.9 trillion yen - the highest level since comparable data became available in 1979 - while exports increased by 4.8 per cent to 73.1 trillion yen on the back of the weaker yen, preliminary data from Japan's Ministry of Finance showed.