IMF External Sector Reports

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IMF External Sector Reports

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IMF Publications

The External Sector Report (ESR) analyzes global external developments and provides updated staff assessments of economies’ external positions, including current account balances, real exchange rates, external balance sheets, capital flows, and international reserves.

Contents

• 2026 External Sector Report: Amid Rising Imbalances, the Case for Rebalancing
  • Published: July 30, 2026
  • Summary: This year’s report analyses sources and implications of a further widening of global current account balances in 2025, discusses policy options to reduce excess global balances, and provides the external sector assessment of 30 of the world’s largest economies based on the 2025 data and the refined
• 2025 External Sector Report: Global Imbalances in a Shifting World
  • Published: July 22, 2025
  • Summary: This report examines the significant widening of global current account balances, analyzes developments in the international monetary system, and provides an external sector assessment of 30 of the world’s largest economies based on 2024 data.
• 2024 External Sector Report: Imbalances Receding
  • Published: July 12, 2024
  • Summary: In 2023, the US dollar remained strong by historical standards and excess current accounts have narrowed in several large economies. Oil supply shocks have had substantial negative effects on energy-importing economies, although several policy measures could soften the impact.
• 2023 External Sector Report: External Rebalancing in Turbulent Times
  • Published: July 19, 2023
  • Summary: Amid the war, pandemic, and US monetary tightening, excess imbalances have not narrowed in 2022, while the US dollar appreciated significantly. Historically, financially driven dollar appreciation had negative spillovers, which could be alleviated by flexible exchange rates.
• Pandemic, War, and Global Imbalances | 2022 IMF External Sector Report
  • Published: August 4, 2022
  • Summary: Global current account balances—the overall size of current account deficits and surpluses—continued to widen in 2021 to 3.5 percent of world GDP, and are expected to widen again this year. The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excess balances narrowed to 0.
• 2021 External Sector Report: Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances
  • Published: August 2, 2021
  • Summary: Overall current account deficits and surpluses widened in 2020 to 3.2 percent of world GDP. The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excessive imbalances were broadly unchanged in 2020 at about 1.2 percent of world GDP.
• 2020 External Sector Report: Global Imbalances and the COVID-19 Crisis
  • Published: July 28, 2020
  • Summary: The IMF's 2020 External Sector Report finds that overall current account deficits and surpluses narrowed modestly in 2019 to just under 3 percent of world GDP. The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that about 40 percent of overall current account deficits and surpluses were excessive in 2019.
• 2019 External Sector Report: The Dynamics of External Adjustment
  • Published: July 3, 2019
  • Summary: After narrowing sharply in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, overall current account surpluses and deficits reached 3 percent of world GDP in 2018, declining marginally while rotating toward advanced economies in recent years.
• 2018 External Sector Report: Tackling Global Imbalances amid Rising Trade Tensions
  • Published: July 19, 2018
  • Summary: The IMF’s 2018 ESR shows that global current account balances stand at about 3¼ percent of global GDP. Of this, 40-50 percent are now deemed excessive, i.e. some countries are saving too much, and others are borrowing too much.