BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Brunei recorded an 11.1-percent year-on-year growth in trade surplus for January 2019, following increased exports of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The International Merchandise Trade Statistics for January, released by Brunei's Department of Economic Planning and Development at the Ministry of Finance and Economy on Thursday, showed the sultanate's trade balance for the month increasing to 468.5 million Brunei dollars (345.3 million U.S. dollars) from 421.6 million Brunei dollars in January 2018.

A trade surplus occurs when a country's exports are higher than its imports.

Exports went up 27 percent to 952.6 million Brunei dollars from 749.8 million Brunei dollars, while imports grew 47.5 percent to 484.1 million Brunei dollars from 328.2 million Brunei dollars.

Mineral fuels recorded the highest contribution of total exports with 850.5 million Brunei dollars. The report showed that mineral fuel exports went up by 24 percent in January year-on-year.

"This was mainly due to increases in exports of crude oil and LNG by 13.3 percent and 34 percent respectively," said the report.

It attributed the increase in the exports of crude oil to a 23.8-percent rise in volume.

"Meanwhile, the increase in the exports of LNG was due to an increase in the export price of LNG by 19.2 percent," said the report.

Japan continued to be Brunei's biggest customer, accounting for 46.3 percent of the sultanate's exports.

China, which accounted for 32.3 percent of Brunei's imports, was the top supplier of the sultanate for the month.