Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's trade deficit swelled to a record $109 billion in 2014, official data showed Monday, weighed down by post-Fukushima energy bills.
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The shortfall of 12,781 billion yen ($109 billion) was up 11.4 percent from the 2013 deficit and the worst since records began in 1979, according to the finance ministry.
In December alone, however, the deficit almost halved from the year before's level to 660.7 billion yen, thanks to lower oil prices.