Japan announces trade deficit

Japan reported its first annual trade deficit since 1980 as it imported expensive energy to offset shortfalls caused by the devastating tsunami and manufacturers shifted production overseas to avoid the damage inflicted by the strong yen.

The 2.49 trillion yen (32 billion US dollars) deficit for 2011 reflects a 2.7% decline in the value of Japan’s exports to 65.55 trillion yen (843 billion US dollars).