The nation's current account surplus continued to grow in August, though the trade surplus shrank for the first time in 14 months as higher oil prices pushed up overall import prices, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

The current account surplus rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.45 trillion yen for the 14th straight month of increase. The surplus in merchandise trade fell 15.3 percent on a year-on-year basis, however to 806.3 billion yen, the ministry said in a preliminary report.

Imports were up 19.4 percent to 3.76 trillion yen, spurred by a 33.7 percent surge in crude oil imports and a 49.5 percent jump in imports of oil products, it said.