Tuvalu: Current account balance (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Tuvalu's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 40.3 percentage points on 2022 (from -0.27% to 40.03%).

Across the 21 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2022), the average change was +2.62 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 42.33 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 76.68 percentage points in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 83.33 percentage points in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 12% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2023, Tuvalu had the 1st highest value of the 12 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 Tuvalu in the 2023 ranking

• Guyana — 2nd of 12: 13.9%
• South Sudan — 3rd of 12: 7.93%
• Aruba — 4th of 12: 5.19%

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 23 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)
• 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.

More economic policy & debt data for Tuvalu

• GDP (current US$) — US$57.35 million (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 89 million (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$42.97 million (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 62 million (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$6,041 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 9,376 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$4,527 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 6,532 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$93.35 million (2025)
• GNI (current LCU) — 144.89 million (2025)
• GNI per capita (current LCU) — 15,264 (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

40.03% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2001?

It is up 95.25 percentage points from -55.22% in 2001. The highest value was 60.91% in 2018 and the lowest -60.7% in 2009.

How does Tuvalu rank?

1st highest of 12 economies with data for 2023.

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

In 2023, Tuvalu's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 40.3 percentage points on 2022 (from -0.27% to 40.03%). Across the 21 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2022), the average change was +2.62 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 42.33 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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