The nation's trade deficit stood at ¥953.4 billion for November, the third-biggest on record, as exports to China and Europe continued to shrink amid the global economic downturn, the government said Wednesday.
The deficit for the fifth straight month was slightly below market forecasts but also the largest for any November, marking a 37.9 percent rise from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. It began recording comparable data in 1979.
Overall exports fell 4.1 percent to ¥4.9839 trillion, the sixth straight monthly decline, on slower exports of ships, automobiles and construction machinery. Imports grew 0.8 percent to ¥5.9373 trillion, the first increase in two months, affected by products such as smartphones and liquefied petroleum gas.