In the years following the GFC, the improvement in the goods balance also contributed to the narrowing of the current account deficit, supported by the recovery in the terms of trade (the price of our exports relative to our imports).
Although the annual goods balance has been in deficit over the past two years – but not to the same extent as prior to the GFC – it has been more than offset by an improvement in the services balance (figure 7). This improvement is due to the strong performance of the tourism and education export sectors.