The nation's current account surplus in January soared 72.2 percent from a year earlier to 807.5 billion yen, the largest for January, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
The previous record was 777.3 billion yen set in January 1994.
A sharp drop in the value of imports because of a plunge in crude oil prices, coupled with sluggish domestic demand, outweighed a decline in exports, the ministry said in a preliminary report.