Fundamental analysis · Intermediate

Trade Balance and the Current Account

A 1-minute lesson from the MarketPro academy, one of 24 in fundamental analysis.

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Short answer

A country's trade balance measures the difference between the value of goods and services it exports versus imports, and it feeds into the broader current account, a key gauge of a nation's economic relationship with the rest of the world. A trade surplus occurs when exports exceed imports, while a trade deficit occurs when imports exceed exports.

A country's trade balance measures the difference between the value of goods and services it exports versus imports, and it feeds into the broader current account, a key gauge of a nation's economic relationship with the rest of the world.

A trade surplus occurs when exports exceed imports, while a trade deficit occurs when imports exceed exports. Persistent, large trade deficits are sometimes viewed as a vulnerability for a currency, since they can imply the country is a net borrower from the rest of the world to fund its consumption.

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