UPDATE 1-Mexico '07 current account gap grows to 0.8 pct/GDP

(Recasts, adds detail)

MEXICO CITY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Mexico's current account deficit swelled to 0.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2007, the central bank said on Monday, as imports grew faster than exports and remittances from workers abroad stagnated.

Mexico's fourth-quarter current account deficit MXCURQ=ECI was $2.115 billion.

A year ago, the central bank said the 2006 current account deficit MXACUR=ECI was equivalent to 0.2 percent of GDP.

Mexico's current account balance is its trade balance plus "invisible" items like tourism and banking.

Exports last year rose 8.9 percent to $272 billion, slower growth than the 16.7 percent increase logged in 2006.

Exports of non-oil related goods were up 8.7 percent, slower than in 2006, the central bank said, because of softer demand from U.S. consumers, including car buyers.

Imports increased 10.6 percent in 2007 to $283 billion. Mexico imported 16.7 percent more consumer goods last year, 13.7 percent more capital goods and 8.9 percent more intermediate goods.

Remittances, mostly from workers in the United States, grew a marginal 1 percent to $24 billion, much less than the 17 percent jump seen in 2006. (Reporting by Noel Randewich and Jason Lange, editing by Walker Simon)