Statistics New Zealand figures showed record imports in the first three months of the year contributed to the large deficit.
New Zealand had a seasonally adjusted current account deficit of $2.8billion for the three months ended March, $1.1billion wider than in the December quarter.
At the end of the March year, the annual current account deficit was $8.1billion, or 3.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). GDP economic growth figures were released this morning.
The current account balance records the value of New Zealand's transactions with the rest of the world in goods, services and income. When New Zealand has a current account deficit, it implies foreigners earned more from New Zealand than the country earned from overseas economies.
International statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said the goods deficit widened by $404million to reach $1.2billion in the March quarter, the largest goods deficit since the June 2008 quarter.
''The increased spending on goods like cars and machinery led to a record-high value of imports this quarter.''
New Zealand's income from direct investment abroad decreased to $299million, mainly because of a fall in profits for New Zealand subsidiaries, she said.
New Zealanders reinvested a majority of those profits overseas, while withdrawing the rest as dividends during the quarter.
Direct income earned by foreign investment in New Zealand increased to $2.3billion, due to a rise in profits earned by New Zealand companies. In the quarter, foreign investors in those companies received $1.1billion in dividends and $901million of profits was reinvested in New Zealand.
There was a $2billion net inflow of investments in the March quarter and banks were at the centre of transactions, Ms Kwon said.
ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie said the figures were a reminder of the bad old ''borrow and spend'' days.
''The economy needs to lift its saving performance and policy settings need to change to encourage it.''
There were too many moving parts to draw strong conclusions from the balance of payments data for the GDP figures, he said.
The biggest surprise was the strength in goods imports. They were far higher than expected and suggested a large drag from net exports.
The uncertainty centred on whether that was offset by a more positive contribution from inventories.
