LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's statistics agency made big cuts to its estimates for the country's trade and current account deficits on Tuesday after it found a "processing error" in its trade statistics.
The Office for National Statistics said the error in the 'erratics' category of British trade - which includes gold, gems, aircraft and ships - affected trade and current account data from January 2015 through December 2016.
The current account deficit for 2015 was revised down to 5.0 percent of gross domestic product from a previously announced of 5.4 percent.
The current account deficit for the second quarter of 2016 was revised down to 5.4 percent of GDP from 5.9 percent. There were also significant revisions to Britain's trade deficit.
The ONS said its headline estimates of British gross domestic product were not affected.