Japan posted its first annual trade deficit since 1980, as data out Wednesday, Jan 25, showed a wider-than-expected trade gap in December, with analysts divided over how long it will take to return to surplus, MarketWatch reports.

A persistently strong yen, a series of natural disasters, and a rise in energy imports to offset a drop in nuclear-power usage have been among the factors pushing up the deficit.

For December, the Japanese trade deficit hit 205.1 billion yen ($2.63 billion), wider than a ¥150.5 billion forecast from a Dow Jones Newswires survey, but narrowing from November’s ¥684.7 billion gap.

Exports for December fell 8% from a year earlier, a larger drop than projected falls of 7.9% and 7.5% from Reuters and Dow Jones Newswires, respectively. Imports rose 8.1% year-on-year.

That sent the annual trade account to its first shortfall in more than three decades, totaling ¥2.49 trillion.