Japan's exports maintained a strong pace of growth in August, while a sharper rise in imports pushed the trade deficit wider than expected, highlighting the growing impact of higher import costs.

The trade deficit widened to 1.11 trillion yen in August, larger than the 1.05 trillion yen shortfall anticipated by analysts polled by Investing.com and sharply wider than the revised 638.3 billion yen deficit in July.

Exports rose 19.3% year over year to 10.05 trillion yen, slowing from a 23.2% increase in July but beating the 18.2% consensus estimate.

Imports climbed 28.0% to 11.15 trillion yen, accelerating from a 27.9% increase the previous month and exceeding the 26.3% forecast.

The export gains were broad-based, with shipments to the U.S. rising 24.9%, those to China increasing 20.6%, and exports to Asia climbing 21.4%.

Technology-related shipments remained a key source of momentum.

Exports of electrical machinery rose 31.5%, with semiconductor shipments jumping 52.3%. Machinery exports also increased 21%, while shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment rose 40.1%.

Exports of motor vehicles increased 16.5%, providing another boost to overall shipments.

The strength in exports was accompanied by a sharper rise in imports. Electrical machinery imports surged 40.8%, while machinery and mineral fuel imports increased 35.1% and 38.4%, respectively.

The figures suggest Japan's external sector continued to benefit from strong demand for technology products, even as the faster increase in imports weighed on the trade balance.