WELLINGTON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand recorded its largest deficit for a January month since 2007, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.

This deficit in January 2018 contrasts with last December's surplus, which was the largest ever for a December month, Stats NZ said.

The January 2018 trade balance was a deficit of 566 million NZ dollars (413 million U.S. dollars), which was larger than January 2017 deficit as imports rose more than exports, it said.

"Both imports and exports reached new highs for January month," international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said in a statement, adding that import growth remains strong while export growth didn't carry on at the same rate as the record-setting December 2017 month.

Imports rose 713 million NZ dollars, or 17 percent, from January 2017, with increases across a range of commodities including turbo-jets, diesel, and ships, Islam said.

The 373 million NZ dollar or 9.5 percent rise in exports was led by milk powder, butter, and cheese, he said, adding that values were down 21 million NZ dollars to China, due to lower exports of milk powder, which is the first fall for milk powder, butter, and cheese to China since November 2016.