Japan's crude oil imports fell for the first time in nine months as record prices cut gasoline and aviation fuel demand in the world's third-largest oil consumer.

Japan purchased 18.5 million kiloliters, about 3.8 million barrels a day, of oil last month, down 0.7 percent from a year earlier, according to a Ministry of Finance trade report released in Tokyo today. The oil import bill grew 55 percent to 1.49 trillion yen ($13.8 billion) as crude oil prices hovered near all-time highs.

Japan's automotive fuel demand fell by as much as 6 percent over the past year, Akihiko Tembo, chairman of the Petroleum Association of Japan, said yesterday, outstripping his original forecast of about 2 percent.

Crude oil prices in New York climbed 69 percent in the past 12 months, sending local retail gasoline prices to record levels.

Liquefied natural gas imports rose 6.7 percent last month to 5.68 million metric tons, according to the trade report. Coal imports totaled 17.5 million tons, a 25 percent increase from June last year.

In the six months through June 30, Japan's oil imports rose 5.7 percent to 122.9 million kiloliters, while LNG imports increased 6.2 percent to 34.7 million tons, the report shows.