Hungary's current account surplus narrowed sharply to EUR 0.16 billion in the September quarter of 2018 from EUR 1 billion in the same period a year earlier. It was the smallest current account surplus since the fourth quarter 2014, as the goods account posted a deficit of EUR 0.90 billion, swinging from a EUR 0.20 billion surplus a year ago. Also, the primary income gap widened to EUR 1.26 billion (from EUR 1.18 million). Meantime, the secondary income shifted to a EUR 0.05 billion surplus from a EUR 0.23 billion deficit in the third quarter of 2017 and the services account surplus went up to EUR 2.26 billion (from EUR 2.20 billion a year before). Current Account in Hungary averaged -404 EUR Million from 1990 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 2182.70 EUR Million in the third quarter of 2016 and a record low of -2319.51 EUR Million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Current Account in Hungary is expected to be 550.00 EUR Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Current Account in Hungary to stand at 724.20 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Hungary Current Account is projected to trend around 320.00 EUR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.