The US current account deficit narrowed to USD 130.4 billion or 2.5 percent of the GDP in the first quarter of 2019 from an upwardly revised USD 143.9 billion gap or 2.8 percent of the GDP in the last three months of 2018, above market consensus of USD 125 billion. The goods deficit fell to USD 216.5 billion from USD 232.3 billion, as goods imports shrank 2.1 percent to USD 635.9 billion mainly due to industrial supplies and materials, in particular petroleum and products while exports rose 0.6 percent to USD 419.3 billion driven by automotive vehicles, parts, and engines, namely passenger cars, and in foods, feeds, and beverages, mostly soybeans. Also, the services surplus widened to USD 61.9 billion from USD 61.2 billion and the primary income surplus went up to USD 61.1 billion from USD 60.1 billion. Meanwhile, the secondary income shortfall increased to USD 36.9 billion from USD 32.8 billion. Current Account in the United States averaged -48990.19 USD Million from 1960 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 9957 USD Million in the first quarter of 1991 and a record low of -215769 USD Million in the third quarter of 2006.
Current Account in the United States is expected to be -123000.00 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 the United States to stand at -129000.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Current Account is projected to trend around -137000.00 USD Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.