Balance of payments, UK: January to March 2026

• The underlying UK current account deficit, excluding precious metals, narrowed to £15.1 billion, or 1.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2026; this is a change of £3.2 billion compared with the deficit of £18.2 billion in the previous quarter.
• The UK current account deficit, including trade in precious metals, narrowed by £5.0 billion to £22.1 billion, or 2.8% of GDP, in Quarter 1 2026.
• The total trade deficit, excluding precious metals, widened to £7.7 billion, or 1.0% of GDP, in Quarter 1 2026, compared with £2.5 billion in the previous quarter; the goods deficit widened to £59.5 billion, and the services surplus narrowed to £51.8 billion.
• The primary income account deficit narrowed to £3.9 billion, or 0.5% of GDP, in Quarter 1 2026, as credits increased and debits decreased.
• There was a net financial inflow of £7.2 billion in Quarter 1 2026.
• The preliminary estimate of the UK's net international investment liability position, on 31 March 2026, widened to £122.1 billion, from a revised £105.6 billion as of 31 December 2025.
• Data for all quarters back to Quarter 1 2024 have been open to revisions, with revisions to "current account, excluding precious metals" data ranging from negative 1.3% to positive 0.1% of GDP.

The UK's current account balance is a measure of the country's balance of payments (BoP) with the rest of the world in trade, primary income, and secondary income.

The underlying UK current account deficit, excluding precious metals, narrowed to £15.1 billion, or 1.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2026. This is a change of £3.2 billion compared with the deficit of £18.2 billion, or 2.4% of GDP, in the previous quarter.

Table 1 summarises the current account data for Quarter 1 2026. The narrowing of the current account deficit in the latest quarter was largely caused by an £8.0 billion narrowing of the primary income deficit. This was partially offset by a £5.1 billion widening of the total trade deficit.

Trade

The total trade deficit for goods and services widened to £7.7 billion, or 1.0% of GDP, in Quarter 1 2026, from £2.5 billion in the previous quarter (revised from £2.2 billion).

The trade in goods deficit widened by £4.0 billion to £59.5 billion, or 7.6% of GDP, and the trade in services surplus decreased by £1.2 billion to £51.8 billion, or 6.6% of GDP.

Figure 3: Both exports and imports of goods increased in Quarter 1 2026

Changes in exports and imports of goods, excluding unspecified and semi-manufactured goods, £ billion, Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2026 compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025

Notes:

1. Unspecified goods and semi-manufactured goods are not included in this chart or commentary because the commodities contain elements of precious metals.

The trade in goods deficit widened in Quarter 1 2026 as imports of goods increased more than exports. Total goods imports increased by £6.2 billion, from £149.4 billion in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025 to £155.6 billion in Quarter 1 2026. The largest increases in imports of goods were recorded in:

• finished manufactured goods, up by £3.6 billion

• other fuels, up by £1.1 billion

Exports of goods increased by £2.2 billion, from £93.9 billion in Quarter 4 2025 to £96.1 billion in Quarter 1 2026. Finished manufactured goods increased by £1.6 billion.

The trade in services surplus decreased by £1.2 billion in Quarter 1 2026, as imports of services increased, while exports of services decreased.

Imports of services increased by £0.9 billion in Quarter 1 2026 to £88.5 billion. The largest increases in imports were recorded in:

• telecommunications, computer and information services, up by £0.6 billion

• financial services, up by £0.4 billion

• other business services, up by £0.3 billion

Exports of services decreased by £0.3 billion in Quarter 1 2026 to £140.3 billion. The largest decreases in exports were recorded in:

• other business services, which fell by £2.1 billion

• travel, which fell by £0.6 billion

These decreases were offset to a large degree by an increase in exports of financial services of £1.0 billion, and smaller increases in telecommunications, computer and information services of £0.4 billion; insurance and pension services of £0.3 billion and personal, cultural and recreational services of £0.3 billion.

Primary income

The primary income account records income that the UK receives and pays on financial and other assets, along with the compensation of employees.

The primary income account deficit narrowed from £11.9 billion in Quarter 4 2025 to £3.9 billion, or 0.5% of GDP, in Quarter 1 2026, as credits increased and debits decreased.

UK receipts (credits) increased by £6.5 billion from the previous quarter, to £107.1 billion. Earnings on direct investment abroad increased by £5.0 billion, along with increased earnings on portfolio investment by £1.1 billion, and other investment by £0.4 billion.

UK payments to foreign investors (debits) decreased by £1.5 billion from the previous quarter, to £111.0 billion in Quarter 1 2026. This is because of decreased payments on direct investment, and other investment, which fell by £1.9 billion and £0.9 billion, respectively. These were partially offset by an increase in payments on portfolio investment, which rose by £1.3 billion.

Secondary income

The secondary income account shows current transfers between UK residents and non-residents.

The secondary income deficit narrowed slightly from £3.8 billion in Quarter 4 2025 to £3.5 billion in Quarter 1 2026, and remained unchanged as a percentage of GDP at 0.5%.

A current account deficit, which the UK has experienced each year since 1984, places the UK as a net borrower with the rest of the world, indicating that overall expenditure in the UK exceeds national income. The UK must attract net financial inflows to finance its current (and capital) account deficit. This can be achieved through either disposing of overseas assets to overseas investors or accruing liabilities with the rest of the world.

The financial account recorded a net inflow (more money flowing into the UK) of £7.2 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2026 after recording a net inflow of £18.9 billion in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025.

Net acquisition of UK assets (investment abroad) represented a financial outflow of £338.7 billion in Quarter 1 2026. Direct investment recorded an outflow of £28.2 billion, as UK investors reinvested earnings to the value of £25.8 billion.

Portfolio investment abroad switched from an inflow of £26.0 billion in Quarter 4 2025 to an outflow of £54.9 billion in Quarter 1 2026. This is because UK investors invested in foreign debt securities to the value of £95.1 billion, while disinvesting in foreign equity and investment fund shares to the value of £40.1 billion. Other investment abroad recorded an outflow of £259.3 billion in Quarter 1 2026.

Net incurrence of UK liabilities (investment in the UK) generated an inflow of £345.9 billion in Quarter 1 2026. Direct investment recorded an inflow of £14.5 billion, as direct investors invested in equity capital to the value of £12.5 billion and reinvested earnings to the value of £11.4 billion.

Portfolio investment recorded a £53.7 billion inflow, as foreign investors invested in UK debt securities to the value of £56.3 billion while disinvesting in equity and investment fund shares to the value of £2.5 billion. Other investment in the UK switched from an outflow of £38.3 billion in Quarter 4 2025 to an inflow of £277.7 billion in Quarter 1 2026.

More details are available in our Quarterly economic commentary article.

The international investment position (IIP) represents the UK's balance sheet with the rest of the world. IIP measures the difference between the net stock of assets and liabilities at a point in time, which we report as the last day of each quarter.

The preliminary estimate of the UK's net international investment liability position was £122.1 billion at the end of Quarter 1 (31 March) 2026, compared with £105.6 billion at the end of Quarter 4 (31 December) 2025.

In addition to a net inflow, as recorded in Section 3: Financial account, the IIP was affected by exchange rates, as sterling depreciation inflated the value of foreign currency loans and deposits stocks.

The UK asset position on 31 March 2026 was valued at £15,061.7 billion. The UK liability position with the rest of the world was valued at £15,183.8 billion.

In line with our National Accounts Revisions Policy, the data accompanying this bulletin are open to revision from 2024 onwards. Revisions to "current account, excluding precious metals" data range from negative 1.3% to positive 0.1% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Revisions resulted largely from:       

• updated survey data for foreign direct investment
• a correction to a processing error in international trade in services transactions data from Quarter 1 2025, as per the detail in our Balance of payments dataset
• a correction to a processing error in trade in goods exports of oil data supplied by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

Data sources

Balance of payments statistics are compiled from a variety of sources and produced using the national accounts sector and financial accounts (SFA) framework. Some of the main sources used include:

• overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC))
• International Trade in Services Survey (ITIS) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• International Passenger Survey (ONS); this was suspended between March 2020 and January 2021 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and is currently undergoing transformation
• Foreign Direct Investment Survey (ONS and Bank of England (BoE))
• various financial inquiries (ONS and BoE)
• Ownership of UK Quoted Shares Survey (ONS)

Trade is measured through both exports and imports of goods and services. Data are supplied by over 30 sources, including several administrative sources, with HMRC being the largest for trade in goods. The ITIS, conducted by the ONS, is the largest single data source for trade in services.

The main source of information for UK foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics is our FDI Survey. Separate surveys are used to collect data on inward and outward FDI. This is combined with data from the BoE on the banking sector.

The statistics in this bulletin are compiled using the asset and liability measurement principle, which uses residency as the main distinction between outward and inward investments.

Changes affecting UK trade statistics

Exports of oil

As previously communicated, we identified an error in trade in goods export data supplied by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This error affected exports of oil and has now been resolved.

Data collection changes

Since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, the arrangements for how the UK trades with the EU have changed. HMRC implemented some data collection changes following Brexit, which affected statistics on UK trade in goods with the EU. We have made adjustments to our estimates of goods imports from the EU in 2021 and 2022 to account for these changes. However, a structural break remains in the full time series for goods imports from and exports to the EU from January 2021.

We therefore advise caution when interpreting and drawing conclusions from these statistics. Our Impact of trade in goods data collection changes on UK trade statistics: summary of adjustments and the structural break from 2021 article provides more detail.

International trade in services estimates

From September 2025 until early 2027, International Trade in Services Survey (ITIS) data, which account for approximately 50% of total trade in services, are being processed once per quarter. During this period, the data are based on a survey response rate of approximately 60% to 70%. This enables more focus on improving processing systems and ensuring methods and quality in the future.

The ITIS data that currently inform trade in services estimates are based on benchmarked annual 2023 survey data and quarterly ITIS survey data for periods from Quarter 1 2024 onwards. We plan to incorporate benchmarked annual 2024 data in September 2026, in line with our National Accounts Revisions Policy.

In this publication we have corrected an error in international trade in services transactions estimates that were previously published, from Quarter 1 2025.

The International Passenger Survey (IPS), which is the source of travel services estimates, accounting for approximately 8% of total trade, is being transformed under our travel and tourism project. The travel services estimates have been forecast since Quarter 3 2024 and will be forecast during travel and tourism transformation.

Financial sector statistics

Our Financial Services Survey (FSS) transformation will improve the quality of our financial sector statistics. During the period of transformation, starting from Quarter 1 2024, financial services statistics in this bulletin are based on forecasts.

Quality and methodology

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Balance of payments quality and methodology information (QMI).

We will continue to produce our UK balance of payments statistics in line with the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics, and in accordance with internationally agreed statistical guidance and standards. This is based on the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual: Sixth Edition (BPM6) (PDF, 3.0MB), until those standards are updated.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2011. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".