New Zealand current account surplus widened to NZD 0.68 billion in the first quarter of 2019 from NZD 0.09 billion a year earlier and compared to expectations of a NZD 0.53 billion surplus. The goods account switched to a NZD 0.23 billion surplus from a NZD 0.39 deficit a year ago. In contrast, the services account surplus narrowed to NZD 2.98 billion from NZD 3.24 billion. Meantime, the primary account deficit narrowed to NZD 2.41 billion from NZD 2.63 billion, whereas the secondary account remained practically unchanged at NZD 0.12 billion (vs NZD 0.13 billion). Current Account in New Zealand averaged -1041.82 NZD Million from 1971 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 1411 NZD Million in the first quarter of 2014 and a record low of -6175 NZD Million in the third quarter of 2018.
Current Account in New Zealand is expected to be -1300.00 NZD Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Current Account in New Zealand to stand at 400.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand Current Account is projected to trend around -2882.00 NZD Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.