Source: International Monetary Fund
Chapter 1: External Positions and Policies
Current accounts in major economies diverged significantly in 2024, widening global current account balances by 0.6 percentage points of world GDP. This widening, driven by domestic macro imbalances, represents a sizable reversal from the post-pandemic narrowing. Staff assessment suggests that excess current account balances account for about two-thirds of the widening in global current account balances. The assessed increase in excess current account balances is the largest in a decade, with major economies—China, the United States and the euro area—driving the increase. Such rapid and globally sizable increase in excess current account balances in major economies can generate significant negative cross-border spillovers. In 2025 and over the medium term, a delay in macroeconomic adjustments to correct the post-pandemic domestic macro imbalances could result in continued current account divergence in major economies, while addressing domestic imbalances could bring about a convergence of major current account balances.