Euro area monthly balance of payments: December 2019

• In December 2019 the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €33 billion, compared with a surplus of €32 billion in November 2019.
• According to preliminary results for 2019 as a whole, the current account recorded a surplus of €362 billion (3.1% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €359 billion (3.1% of euro area GDP) in 2018.
• In the financial accounteuro area residents made net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalling €343 billion in 2019 (up from €202 billion in 2018). Over the same period, non-residents made net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities amounting to €352 billion (in comparison with net sales of €5 billion in 2018).

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €33 billion in December 2019, compared with a surplus of €32 billion in November 2019 (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€31 billion), services (€6 billion) and primary income (€5 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€10 billion).

Data for the current account of the euro area

According to preliminary results for 2019 as a whole, the current account recorded a surplus of €362 billion (3.1% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €359 billion (3.1% of euro area GDP) in 2018. This increase was driven by a larger surplus for goods (up from €296 billion to €340 billion). This development was partly offset by reductions in the surpluses for services (down from €114 billion to €93 billion) and primary income (down from €100 billion to €81 billion). The deficit for secondary income remained stable over the same period at €152 billion.

In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €79 billion in non-euro area assets in 2019, following net disinvestments of €257 billion in 2018 (see Chart 2 and Table 2). At the same time, non-residents made net investments in euro area assets of €103 billion in 2019, following net disinvestments of €344 billion in 2018.

In portfolio investment, net purchases of foreign debt securities by euro area residents increased to €306 billion in 2019, following net purchases of €156 billion in 2018. Over the same period, euro area residents made net purchases of foreign equity of €37 billion, after net purchases of €46 billion in 2018. Non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities of €111 billion in 2019, after net sales of €159 billion in 2018. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity rose to €241 billion from €154 billion.

Data for the financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign assets decreased to €201 billion in 2019 (following net acquisitions of €222 billion in 2018), while non-euro area residents recorded net disposals of €133 billion of euro area assets following net acquisitions of €309 billion in 2018.

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (see Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €327 billion in 2019. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ portfolio investment equity and direct investment net inflows. This increase was only partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in portfolio investment debt securities.

In December 2019 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €813.6 billion, up from €808.0 billion in the previous month (see Table 3). This increase was largely driven by positive price changes (€10.4 billion) and to a lesser extent by net acquisitions of assets (€0.5 billion). It was partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€5.4 billion).

Data for the reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for October and November 2019. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published. The monetary presentation of balance of payments was also revised to account for an enhanced estimate of MFI net external assets. For more details please consult the ECB Occasional Paper entitled “Revisiting the monetary presentation of the euro area balance of payments”.

Next press releases:

• monthly balance of payments: 20 March 2020 (reference data up to January 2020)
• quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: 7 April 2020 (reference data up to the fourth quarter of 2019)

For media queries, please contact Philippe Rispal, tel.: +49 69 1344 5482.

Notes

• Hyperlinks in this press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.