According to preliminary statistics, Japan's import bill of mineral fuels (all energies considered) rose by nearly 14% in 2013 to Yen 27,435bn (US$268bn), contributing to the degradation of the trade deficit: at Yen 11,745bn, i.e. US$112bn, the trade deficit rose by 65%.
Crude oil imports slightly decreased (-0.6%) to 23.65 mb/d but their value rose by more than 16%, while oil product imports rose by 0.7% (+10% in value). LNG imports remained stable in volume (+0.2%) in 2013, at 87.5 Mt, but the import bill for LNG soared by more than 17% to Yen 7,057bn (US$69bn), overturning a previous record in 2012. Thermal coal imports grew by 1.3% to 109 Mt (+3.5% for total coal, to 191.5 Mt), while their value increased by 2%. This strong increase in import bills is less due to rising energy prices - as international crude oil price dipped by 3% on average in 2013 and LNG import price in Japan fell by 4% - than to the depreciation of the Japanese Yen vs. the US dollar (about 20% depreciation in 2013).