Deflection of balancing disc in a multistage centrifugal pump, being the consequence of pressure forces, causes the change of shape of the axial clearance between the rotating balancing disc and the stationary counterdisc. It results in reduction of axial force acting on the rotating wall of the clearance, and the total balancing force. The final effect is a significant decrease (e.g. of 20%) of disc to counterdisc distance. The approximate formulae for radial pressure distribution in turbulent flow through hydraulically smooth conical axial clearance are derived in the paper and a numerical example is given. The method of integral relations was applied.