The current account gap in the United Kingdom widened by GBP 6.3 billion to GBP 30 billion in the first quarter of 2019 from GBP 23.7 billion in the previous quarter and compared with market expectations of a GBP 32 billion shortfall. It was the largest current account gap since the third quarter of 2016, as the trade deficit increased to a record GBP 20.3 billion from GBP 9.4 billion in the last quarter of 2018. The goods gap rose to GBP 47.0 billion from GBP 36.9 billion and the services surplus narrowed to GBP 26.8 billion from GBP 27.5 billion. Also, the secondary income gap went up to GBP 6.6 billion from GBP 5.9 billion in the prior period. On the other hand, the primary income shortfall went down to GBP 3.2 billion from GBP 8.4 billion. Current Account in the United Kingdom averaged -4680.11 GBP Million from 1946 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 2654 GBP Million in the first quarter of 1981 and a record low of -32163 GBP Million in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Current Account in the United Kingdom is expected to be -20500.00 GBP 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 Kingdom to stand at -19200.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United Kingdom Current Account is projected to trend around -20800.00 GBP Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.