Tokyo, Jan 23 (IANS) Japan in 2018 had a trade deficit of 1.20 trillion yen ($11 billion), the first negative balance in three years, the government announced on Wednesday.

In 2018, Japanese exports reached 81.49 trillion yen, an increase of 4.1 per cent over 2017, Efe news quoted official data.

Annual imports rose by 9.7 per cent to 82.69 trillion yen.