Russia's current account surplus widened sharply to USD 38.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018 from USD 13.5 billion in the same period a year earlier, a preliminary estimate showed. It was the biggest current account surplus since an all-time high was recorded in the first quarter of 2012 as the goods surplus increased to USD 57.0 billion from 35.0 billion a year ago, while the services deficit narrowed to USD 7.6 billion from USD 8.4 billion. In addition, the investment income gap declined to USD 8.0 billion from USD 10.0 billion and the secondary income deficit fell to USD 2.0 billion from USD 2.4 billion. Considering 2018 full year, the current account surplus widened to USD 114.9 billion, the largest on record, from USD 33.3 billion in 2017. Current Account in Russia averaged 12158.04 USD Million from 1994 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 39286 USD Million in the first quarter of 2012 and a record low of -3774 USD Million in the second quarter of 1998.
Current Account in Russia is expected to be 32500.00 USD Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Current Account in Russia to stand at 44100.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Russia Current Account is projected to trend around 38000.00 USD Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.