Japan's Finance Ministry (center) is seen on a street in Tokyo on March 12, 2018. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)

TOKYO – Japan posted its biggest annual trade deficit since record keeping began in 2022, as soaring prices for energy and raw material prices were further inflated by a weaker yen, the government said in a report on Thursday.

According to the Finance Ministry, the country logged a 19.97 trillion yen ($155.29 billion) deficit for 2022, marking the largest amount of red ink for a year since comparable data became available in 1979.

Imports in the recording period leaped 39.2 percent to a record 118.16 trillion yen ($918.88 billion), while exports were up a record 8.2 percent to 98.19 trillion yen ($763.58 billion), the Finance Ministry's preliminary reports showed

Imports in the recording period leaped 39.2 percent to a record 118.16 trillion yen ($918.88 billion), while exports were up a record 8.2 percent to 98.19 trillion yen ($763.58 billion), the ministry's preliminary reports showed.

The yen's plunge to a more than three-decade low versus the US dollar during 2022 punctuated the trade deficit and the fact that resource-poor Japan is at the mercy of imports for the country's core needs.

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As for December alone, Japan booked a trade deficit of 1.45 trillion yen ($11.27 billion), the ministry said.

In the month, imports climbed 20.6 percent to 10.24 trillion yen ($79.63 billion), while exports rose 11.5 percent at 8.79 trillion yen ($68.35 billion), the ministry's data also showed.