The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported a narrowing of the current-account deficit by $6.3 billion, or 2.0 percent, reaching $303.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. This decrease was due to a shift in the balance on primary income from a deficit to a surplus and changes in secondary income and services balances.
Exports of goods and services, along with income from foreign residents, rose by $16.1 billion to $1.22 trillion during this period. Imports also saw an increase, rising by $9.7 billion to $1.53 trillion.
In trade specifics, exports of goods fell by $10.8 billion to $519.2 billion due to declines in capital goods like civilian aircraft and semiconductors as well as consumer goods such as pharmaceuticals. Conversely, imports grew by $5.7 billion to reach $845.3 billion, largely driven by nonmonetary gold.
Services exports increased by $7.7 billion while imports rose by $4.8 billion during the same timeframe.
Receipts from primary income increased significantly by $18.6 billion while payments saw a smaller rise of $2.4 billion.
Secondary income receipts experienced a modest increase of $0.7 billion whereas payments decreased notably by $3.2 billion.
On the capital account side, there was an increase in capital-transfer receipts mainly due to insurance payouts related to Hurricane Milton, while payments decreased due to fewer infrastructure grants.
Financial-account transactions showed net U.S borrowing from foreign residents at −$385.3 billion for the quarter.
For 2024 overall, the current-account deficit widened significantly compared to 2023 primarily due to an expanded deficit on goods and changes in primary income balance from surplus to deficit.
Looking ahead, updated international transaction accounts are expected on June 24, 2025.