Wellington, Aug 26 (IANS): Exports to three of New Zealand's top five trade partners plunged last month, as demand fell for crude oil and dairy products, while imports went up, the government statistics agency announced Monday.

Exports to Australia, the US and Japan were all down, while exports to China rose 22 percent year-on-year to 653 million NZ dollars ($509.91 million), led by sheep meat and pine logs, and exports to South Korea were up 7.7 percent to 134 million NZ dollars, Xinhua reported.

The value of total imports were up 17 percent year-on-year to 4.6 billion NZ dollars, led by imports of aircraft and crude oil.

"Higher goods imports led to a deficit of 774 million NZ dollars, the largest for a July month since 2008," industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said.

"July month's normally have trade deficits, but there were small trade surpluses in July 2011 and 2012," Louise said.

The value of total exported goods fell 196 million NZ dollars (4.8 percent) to 3.8 billion NZ dollars, driven down by crude oil, milk powder, butter and cheese.