French Polynesia: Current account balance (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, French Polynesia's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 2.03 percentage points on 2015 (from 5.47% to 7.49%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2015), the average change was +0.41 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 5.76 percentage points in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.13 percentage points in 2008. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2007 to 2016 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.94 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 50% 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.

Closest to French Polynesia in the 2016 ranking

• New Caledonia — 2nd of 3: -7.5%
• Yemen, Rep. — 3rd of 3: -7.72%

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 15 values

Current account balance (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — -2.77% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 18.01% (2025)
• Cambodia — -3.72% (2025)
• China — 3.77% (2025)
• Fiji — -7.78% (2024)
• 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 French Polynesia

• GNI (current US$) — US$7.01 billion (2024)
• GNI (current LCU) — 773.67 billion (2024)
• GNI per capita (current LCU) — 2.75 million (2024)
• GDP (current US$) — US$6.32 billion (2024)
• GDP (current LCU) — 697.55 billion (2024)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$5.87 billion (2024)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 571.89 billion (2024)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$22,440 (2024)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 2.48 million (2024)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$20,847 (2024)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU)

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Questions people ask

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

7.49% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is up 7.34 percentage points from 0.15% in 2002. The highest value was 7.49% in 2016 and the lowest -6.04% in 2008.

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

In 2016, French Polynesia's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 2.03 percentage points on 2015 (from 5.47% to 7.49%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2015), the average change was +0.41 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

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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