Australia Current Account

Australia's current account deficit widened to AUD 16.6 billion in the third quarter of 2025, up from an upwardly revised AUD 16.2 billion in the second quarter and exceeding market expectations of a AUD 13.3 billion shortfall. This marked the largest current account gap since the fourth quarter of 2024, as the goods and services surplus declined to AUD 2.5 billion in Q3 2025 from AUD 2.8 billion in the previous quarter, while the net secondary income shifted to a deficit of AUD 0.5 billion from a surplus of AUD 0.06 billion. Meanwhile, the net primary income deficit narrowed to AUD 18.7 billion in Q3 from AUD 19.0 billion in Q2, driven by a AUD1.7 billion rise in primary income credits (inflows) and partly offset by an increase of $1.4 billion in primary income debits (outflows). The increase in inflows was driven by higher profits from Australian direct equity investment holdings and continued strong returns on portfolio equity investments held overseas.