London, Wednesday, 21 December 2022
In comparison to market projections of $222.0 billion, the US current account deficit decreased by $21.6 billion, or 9.1%, to $217.1 billion in Q3 2022 from a revised $238.7 billion in Q2.
It was the smallest current account deficit in almost a year and was equivalent to 3.4% of GDP (down from 3.8% of GDP in Q2).
A smaller goods deficit balanced out a smaller primary income surplus and a larger secondary income deficit.
The decrease in the goods deficit was aided by rising exports of non-monetary gold and capital goods, primarily civilian aircraft engines and parts and other industrial machinery, as well as declining imports of consumer goods and industrial supplies and materials.
The goods deficit was down from $310.9 billion in Q2 to $271.1 billion in Q3.
The primary income surplus decreased to $45.6 billion from $57.2 billion, while the secondary income deficit increased to $52.2 billion from $42.3 billion.
Taking Q1 through Q3 into account, the current account imbalance increased to $738.4 billion from $621.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis // Edit by: The Decision Maker - Finance editors)