OTTAWA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Canada's current account deficit decreased to 16.35 billion Canadian dollars (1 Canadian dollar is about 0.78 U.S. dollar) in the fourth quarter in 2017, according to Statistics Canada on Thursday.

The current account gap of 16.35 billion Canadian dollars was smaller than previous forecasts for a deficit of 17.80 billion Canadian dollars due to a shortfall in trade in the fourth quarter after three consecutive quarters of increases in the year.

In the whole year of 2017, Canada saw a current account gap of 63.93 billion Canadian dollars, smaller than the previous year's 65.37 billion Canadian dollars.

The international trade deficit shrank to 7.16 billion Canadian dollars in the fourth quarter as Canada's trade surplus with the United States increased to 10.47 billion Canadian dollars.

Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States rose to 17.63 billion Canadian dollars due to wider trade gaps with the European Union and China, though that was tempered by smaller deficits with Japan and Mexico.

The direct investment in Canada in 2017 fell to 33.8 billion Canadian dollars on a non-adjusted basis, the lowest level since 2010 as cross-border mergers and acquisitions prompted a withdrawal of funds from the country for the first time since 2007.