(BRUSSELS) - The European Union's current account showed a deficit of 26.5 billion euros (41.8 billion dollars) in the first three months of 2008, the EU's Eurostat data agency said Wednesday, revising up a first estimate.

Previously the Eurostat estimated that the deficit stood at 23.7 billion euros in the first quarter.

The deficit marked a sharp deterioration from a shortfall of 7.3 billion euros recorded in the final three months of 2007 but narrowed from the 30.4 billion euros chalked up in the first quarter of 2007.

The current account is an important measure of all current payments into and out of a given area, and is an indicator of the long-term capacity of that area to pay its way in the world.

Further details - Eurostat

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