Euro area monthly balance of payments: May 2023

20 July 2023

• Current account recorded €9 billion surplus in May 2023, up from €4 billion in previous month
• Current account deficit amounted to €49 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to May 2023, compared with a surplus of €161 billion (1.3%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €23 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €281 billion in 12 months to May 2023

Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €9 billion in May 2023, an increase of €5 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€23 billion) and services (€6 billion), while deficits occurred in secondary income (€12 billion) and primary income (€8 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

In the 12 months to May 2023, the current account recorded a deficit of €49 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €161 billion (1.3% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (€88 billion) to a deficit (€8 billion) for primary income, and by a reduction in the surpluses for goods (down from €106 billion to €31 billion) and services (down from €131 billion to €93 billion). The deficit for secondary income remained broadly stable (up from €164 billion to €165 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

In direct investment, euro area residents made net disinvestments of €203 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to May 2023, following net investments of €327 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €258 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to May 2023, following net disinvestments of €68 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity amounted to €71 billion in the 12 months to May 2023 following net purchases of €84 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €94 billion, down from €205 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity amounted to €119 billion in the 12 months to May 2023, down from €362 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €162 billion, following net sales of €189 billion one year earlier.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net disposals of non-euro area assets amounting to €94 billion in the 12 months to May 2023 (following net acquisitions of €359 billion one year earlier) and they recorded net disposals of liabilities amounting to €308 billion (following net acquisitions of €815 billion one year earlier).

Chart 3

Monetary presentation of the balance of payments

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €187 billion in the 12 months to May 2023. This increase was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity, portfolio investment debt and other investment, and by other flows. These developments were only partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.

In May 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,140.5 billion, up from €1,120.8 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven by positive price changes and exchange rate changes (both for €9.3 billion) and net acquisitions of assets (€1.4 billion).

Table 3

Reserve assets of the euro area

(EUR billions; amounts outstanding at the end of the period, flows during the period; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for April 2023. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 22 August 2023 (reference data up to June 2023)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 5 October 2023 (reference data up to the second quarter of 2023)

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

Notes

• Current account data are always seasonally and working day-adjusted, unless otherwise indicated, whereas capital and financial account data are neither seasonally nor working day-adjusted.
• Hyperlinks in this press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.