Japan registered a goods trade deficit of ¥800.3 billion in February, a record for the month and up 3.5 percent from a year before, the government said Wednesday, amid growing imports of fossil fuels after the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The trade balance posted the 20th straight month of red ink, the longest period since comparable data became available in January 1979, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

The value of imports rose 9.0 percent to ¥6.6003 trillion, up for the 16th consecutive month, with those of liquefied natural gas soaring 11.4 percent and liquefied petroleum gas 14.8 percent, the ministry said.