Tokyo  - Japan saw the first current-account deficit in 13 years and a record amount in January as the trade balance widened due to declining exports, the Finance Ministry said Monday.

Japan's deficit amounted to 172.8 billion yen (1.76 billion dollars) in January, compared to surplus of 1.16 trillion yen in the same month a year before.

Goods and services trade logged a record deficit of 1.1 trillion yen.

In goods' trade, Japan saw a deficit of 844.4 billion yen, compared to surplus of 71.3 billion yen a year earlier.

Exports dropped for four consecutive month to 3.28 trillion yen, down 46.3 per cent from the year before, and imports were also down 31.7 per cent to 4.13 trillion yen.

In services' trade, the deficit widened 1.7 per cent to 255.8 billion yen in January.

The surplus in the income account fell to 992.4 billion yen, down 31.5 per cent.

The current-account balance, which is the broadest gauge of trade, shows the difference between a country's income from foreign sources and foreign obligations payable, excluding net capital investment. (dpa)