Japan posted a record deficit of ¥5.427 trillion in goods trade in the first half of fiscal 2014, against a backdrop of rising energy imports caused by the prolonged halt in nuclear power generation, the government said Wednesday.

The deficit expanded 8.6 percent from a year earlier to reach the highest amount for the April-September period since data became available in 1979.

The value of imports increased 2.5 percent to ¥41.324 trillion, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.