US Current-Account Deficit Widens to $246B in Q2 2026
The gap grew 15.7% from Q1, reaching 3% of GDP, as the US net investment position hit negative $22.42 trillion.
The United States current-account deficit expanded sharply in the second quarter of 2026, widening by $33.4 billion — or 15.7 percent — to $246.0 billion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported. The gap, which measures the net flow of goods, services, income, and transfers between the U.S. and the rest of the world, grew from a revised first-quarter shortfall of $212.6 billion.
As a share of the economy, the deficit climbed to 3.0 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product, up from 2.7 percent in the prior quarter. The increase signals that the U.S. is drawing more heavily on foreign resources relative to what it produces — a dynamic that economists often monitor as an indicator of external imbalance and longer-term currency pressure.
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The U.S. net international investment position, which captures the gap between what American residents hold abroad and what foreigners hold in the U.S., stood at negative $22.42 trillion at the close of the second quarter. Total U.S. assets overseas reached $46.97 trillion, while foreign-held liabilities in the U.S. totaled $69.39 trillion — leaving a net shortfall that deepened by roughly $1.15 trillion compared with the revised first-quarter figure of negative $21.27 trillion.
The widening deficit and deteriorating investment position together underscore the scale of the U.S. reliance on foreign capital. Analysts note that sustained current-account deficits must be financed by corresponding capital inflows, meaning the U.S. continues to attract substantial foreign investment even as its net liability position grows. The BEA releases these figures quarterly as part of its international transactions accounts.
Continue reading at U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
