China: Current account balance (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, China's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 1.3 percentage points on 2024 (from 2.47% to 3.77%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.44 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 4.56 percentage points in 1990 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.46 percentage points in 1985. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.22 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 46% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, China had the 28th highest value of the 135 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to China in the 2025 ranking

• Guatemala — 25th of 135: 4.72%
• Azerbaijan — 26th of 135: 4.58%
• Germany — 27th of 135: 4.45%
• Peru — 29th of 135: 3.58%
• Cabo Verde — 30th of 135: 3.56%
• Slovenia — 31st of 135: 3.55%

What this measures

Balance of current transactions (transactions in goods and services, earned income and transfer income) between residents and non-residents. The term current account balance is used in the external accounts and is expressed from the perspective of resident units. The term current external balance is used in the national accounts and is expressed from the perspective of the non-resident units, and therefore with the opposite sign. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

All 44 values

Current account balance (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — -2.77% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 18.01% (2025)
• Cambodia — -3.72% (2025)
• Fiji — -7.78% (2024)
• French Polynesia — 7.49% (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 12.25% (2025)
• Indonesia — -0.09% (2025)
• Japan — 4.86% (2025)
• Kiribati — -15.23% (2025)
• Korea, Rep. — 6.57% (2025)
• Lao PDR

More economic policy & debt data for China

• Exports of goods and services (current US$) — US$4.11 trillion (2025)
• Exports of goods and services (current LCU) — 29.54 trillion (2025)
• Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 21.07% (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current US$) — US$3.29 trillion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current LCU) — 23.67 trillion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 16.89% (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (current US$) — US$816.19 billion (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (current LCU) — 5.87 trillion (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) — 4.19% (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is China's current account balance (% of GDP)?

3.77% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1982?

It is up 1.01 percentage points from 2.76% in 1982. The highest value was 9.8% in 2007 and the lowest -3.68% in 1985.

How does China rank?

28th highest of 135 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in current account balance (% of GDP) unusual for China?

In 2025, China's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 1.3 percentage points on 2024 (from 2.47% to 3.77%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.44 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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