US Current Account Deficit Widens Sharply in Second Quarter

The United States saw its current account deficit grow significantly in the second quarter of 2026, reaching $246 billion. This is a jump of $33.4 billion, or about 15.7%, from the first quarter. The current account measures the flow of goods, services, and investments between the US and other countries.

To put it simply, the country imported a lot more than it exported during this period. Goods imports shot up by $67.4 billion, while exports increased by $27.1 billion. This pushed the trade deficit in goods to $291.3 billion, which is a big part of the overall current account gap.

The deficit in the second quarter was 3.0% of the US’s gross domestic product (GDP), up from 2.7% in the previous quarter. While this is far from the peak of 6.3% seen back in 2006, it still signals a growing imbalance where the US is buying more from the world than it sells.

Interestingly, some other parts of the current account improved slightly. Income earned from investments abroad increased, and the deficit on primary income narrowed a bit. But these positive changes weren’t enough to offset the larger goods trade gap.

At the same time, the US’s net international investment position—the difference between what Americans own abroad and what foreigners own in the US—got worse. It moved from a negative $21.27 trillion to a negative $22.42 trillion, showing that the country’s financial liabilities to the rest of the world have grown.

Overall, this widening deficit reflects complex trade and investment flows and signals that the US is borrowing more from foreign sources to cover its spending. Economists had expected a slightly larger deficit, around $255 billion, so the actual figure was a bit lower than forecast.