Italy · Current Account Balance (IMF)

## What this measures

The current account balance (trade in goods and services, plus income and transfers from abroad) as a percent of GDP. Italy.

## Why it matters

A persistent deficit means a country relies on foreign capital; a surplus means it lends to the rest of the world. Large imbalances are where currency and trade tensions start.

## How to read it

Positive is a surplus, negative a deficit.

Each point is one year's figure in the newest World Economic Outlook, dated December 31. The series stops the year before the WEO's own year; the IMF's forecast from there is a separate series (the same name with "IMF Projection"), so this line never mixes measured and forecast years. The newest year is often still an IMF estimate, and the whole history is revised with each edition.

## What it does not say

World current accounts should sum to zero but do not, because of measurement gaps. Forecasts assume unchanged exchange rates and policies.

## Source

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Figures as published, rounded to at most four decimals. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.