Japan's trade surplus will likely continue to fall on year, because growth of imports is expected to outpace that of exports, an official at the Ministry of Finance said. Imports totaled 3.8 trillion yen in December, a record high, reflecting higher crude oil prices and the weaker yen, as well as increasing volume. The trade surplus fell for the sixth consecutive month in December, declining 27.4% on year to 816.1 trillion yen, it was announced earlier.