Summary of balance of payments

Abstract

The UK has recorded a current account deficit in every year since 1984. Prior to 1984, the current account recorded a surplus in 1980 to 1983. Since the last surplus was recorded in 1983, there have been three main phases in the development of the current account. In the first phase, from 1984 to 1989, the current account deficit increased steadily to reach a high of £26.3 billion in 1989 (equivalent to −5.1 per cent of GDP); during the second phase, from 1990 until 1997, the current account deficit declined to a low of £0.8 billion in 1997; in the third phase, since 1998, the current account deficit has widened sharply. The deficit in 2005, at £26.6 billion, is the highest recorded in cash terms but only equates to −2.2 per cent of GDP.