Japan Marks Record Trade Deficit on Soaring Energy Imports

A container ship is loaded and unloaded at a container terminal at a port of Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 9, 2022. Koji Sasahara/AP Photo

TOKYO—Japan recorded a record high trade deficit for 2022 of 19.97 trillion yen ($156 billion) as energy imports surged, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

The deficit was the biggest since Japan began keeping comparable records in 1979, the ministry said.