Japan's trade deficit soars to 8-year high as commodity imports jump

Japan ran its biggest trade deficit in a single month in eight years in January as high energy costs swelled imports and manufacturers struggled with global supply constraints, causing a decline in car shipments.

The growing trade deficit highlights the world's third-largest economy's vulnerability to soaring commodity costs, on which manufacturers rely for production at home.

Imports soared 39.6% year-on-year in January to hit a record high in terms of their value in yen, coming to 8.5231 trillion yen ($73.81 billion), Ministry of Finance data showed on Thursday, above a median market forecast for a 37.1% increase.

That greatly outstripped a 9.6% rise