UK Current Account Deficit Widens to £91.6 Billion in 2025, ONS Pink Book Shows
The United Kingdom’s current account deficit widened to £91.6 billion in 2025, equal to 3.0% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Pink Book published on 30 October 2026. The gap grew by £7.3 billion from a revised £84.3 billion, or 2.9% of GDP, in 2024, and the ONS put the UK second among G7 economies for the size of its deficit.
The headline figure includes non-monetary gold and other precious metals, the ONS says, which matters for how it is read. A separate measure that strips those metals out tells a different story for the year, and the quarterly figures for 2026 so far point to a smaller underlying gap.
UK current account deficit 2025 — the headline numbers at a glance
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 (revised) |
|---|---|---|
| Current account deficit, including precious metals | £91.6 billion (3.0% of GDP) | £84.3 billion (2.9% of GDP) |
| Trade balance deficit, including precious metals | 1.3% of GDP | 0.7% of GDP |
| Financial account net inflow | £85.6 billion (2.8% of GDP) | Not stated in this summary |
| Net international investment liability, end of year | £60.7 billion (2.0% of GDP) | £40.9 billion (1.4% of GDP) |
| Underlying current account deficit, Q2 2026 (excluding precious metals) | £11.3 billion (1.4% of GDP) | £14.3 billion (1.8% of GDP) in Q1 2026 |
The UK has run an annual current account deficit every year since 1984, the ONS notes. A deficit on this scale means the country, taken as a whole, spent and invested more abroad than it earned, and must attract net financial inflows from the rest of the world to cover the difference.
Why the £91.6 billion figure and the £70 billion figure are both in circulation
Readers may see a second total for 2025 — £70 billion, or 2.3% of GDP — and wonder which is correct. The House of Commons Library trade summary states that all its figures exclude precious metals unless stated otherwise, and on that basis it puts the 2025 current account deficit at £70 billion, down from £81 billion, or 2.8% of GDP, in 2024.
The two totals are therefore different measures, not a contradiction. The Pink Book headline includes precious metals, whose movements can be large and volatile, while the Library’s version strips them out. On the Library’s basis, a £213 billion deficit on trade in goods was partly offset by a £195 billion surplus on trade in services, leaving an overall trade deficit of £18 billion, with exports of £910 billion against imports of £929 billion.
The ONS also moved silver, platinum and palladium bullion from the “semi-manufactured goods” group to a group for commodities and transactions not classified according to kind. It says changes to the current account balance come from methods improvements and updated trade and foreign direct investment survey data, and that figures for all periods remain open to revision.
How the gap was financed — and what pushed net liabilities higher
The financial account recorded a net inflow of £85.6 billion in 2025, with gross inflows of £574.3 billion and outflows of £488.7 billion. Foreign currency deposits in UK banks drove much of the inflow side, climbing from £252.6 billion in 2024 to £360.3 billion, while portfolio investment into the UK rose from £121.3 billion to £144.4 billion.
Foreign investors moved from net sales of £5.7 billion of UK equity and investment fund shares in 2024 to net purchases of £34.7 billion, which the ONS said may reflect comparatively strong UK equity market performance and portfolio diversification. Net foreign purchases of gilts, by contrast, fell from an unusually high £102.0 billion in 2024 to £28.5 billion, with foreign central banks net sellers of £9.1 billion.
The UK’s net international investment liability position — what the country owes the rest of the world, net of what it owns abroad — stood at £60.7 billion, or 2.0% of GDP, at the end of 2025, up from a revised £40.9 billion, or 1.4% of GDP, a year earlier. The ONS attributed the widening to net financial inflows and to larger price rises on UK liabilities than on UK assets, while a stronger pound against the US dollar cut the sterling value of foreign assets by £175.7 billion.
Returns also slipped on both sides of the ledger. The rate of return on foreign investment in the UK fell to 3.7%, while the rate on UK investment abroad fell to 3.4%, which the ONS linked to lower interest rates in the UK and abroad. Those returns matter because they feed directly into the primary income balance, and therefore into the current account itself.
What the 2026 quarterly figures suggest so far
The later quarterly data point to a smaller gap in 2026 than the 2025 annual headline might suggest. The underlying deficit, excluding precious metals, narrowed to £11.3 billion, or 1.4% of GDP, in April to June 2026, from £14.3 billion, or 1.8% of GDP, in the previous quarter.
Including precious metals, the deficit narrowed by £1.2 billion to £19.9 billion, or 2.5% of GDP, in the same quarter. The ONS said lower earnings on direct investment in the UK since the end of 2024 were helping to narrow the deficit in 2026. That quarterly improvement does not, on its own, settle the 2026 annual outcome, which will depend on the second half of the year and on revisions.
The figures also sit alongside the Bank of England interest-rate decision expected on Thursday 5 November 2026, which will shape borrowing costs for households and businesses. A wider external deficit does not by itself dictate that decision, but it forms part of the backdrop of higher inflation and energy costs facing policymakers.
What the Pink Book does — and does not — settle
The Pink Book is an annual statistical review, not a policy announcement. It describes cross-border transactions in trade, primary income and secondary income, the financial account, and the stock of international investment, rather than prescribing how the Government should respond.
Any Government response to these figures, any forecast for the 2026 annual deficit, and any single causal explanation for the widening beyond the ONS factors cited above are not publicly verified in the sources used here, and this article does not assert them. The figures themselves remain open to revision as methods improve and survey data are updated.
Frequently asked questions about the UK current account deficit
What is the UK current account deficit? It is the gap between what the UK earns from the rest of the world — through trade, investment income and transfers — and what it pays out. A deficit means outflows exceed inflows over the period measured.
Why are there two different 2025 totals, £91.6 billion and £70 billion? The £91.6 billion Pink Book headline includes non-monetary gold and other precious metals, while the House of Commons Library’s £70 billion figure excludes precious metals unless stated otherwise. They measure the same year on different bases.
Has the UK always run a current account deficit? No, but it has run an annual deficit every year since 1984, according to the ONS. That long run is why the country has consistently needed net financial inflows from abroad.
Does a current account deficit mean the UK is in trouble? Not on its own. A deficit must be financed, and the Pink Book shows it was financed in 2025 by a net financial inflow of £85.6 billion. Whether it becomes a problem depends on how it is financed, at what cost, and whether it persists.
What happens next? The next Pink Book annual update and the quarterly balance-of-payments releases will show whether the narrower underlying quarterly gap in early 2026 holds. Until then, the 2025 annual figures are the latest complete yearly picture, subject to revision.
