Euro area monthly balance of payments: June 2023

22 August 2023

• Current account recorded €36 billion surplus in June 2023, up from €8 billion in previous month
• Current account deficit amounted to €9 billion (0.1% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to June 2023, compared with a surplus of €123 billion (1.0%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €139 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €326 billion in 12 months to June 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 €36 billion in June 2023, an increase of €28 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€39 billion), services (€8 billion) and primary income (€4 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€15 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 June 2023, the current account recorded a deficit of €9 billion (0.1% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €123 billion (1.0% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (€83 billion) to a deficit (€12 billion) for primary income and by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €139 billion to €84 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €70 billion to €80 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €169 billion to €162 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 €153 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to June 2023, following net investments of €305 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €213 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to June 2023, following net disinvestments of €124 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €198 billion, up from €137 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity amounted to €59 billion in 12 months to June 2023, following net purchases of €5 billion one year earlier. Non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €205 billion, following net sales of €150 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €121 billion in the 12 months to June 2023, down from €309 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 €120 billion in the 12 months to June 2023 (following net acquisitions of €460 billion one year earlier), and they recorded net disposals of liabilities amounting to €331 billion (following net acquisitions of €881 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 €141 billion in 12 months to June 2023. This increase was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity, portfolio investment debt and the current and capital accounts surplus. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.

In June 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased to €1,105.2 billion, down from €1,140.5 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was driven by negative price changes (€29.6 billion) and negative exchange rate changes (€8.2 billion) which were partly offset by net acquisitions of assets (€2.4 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 May and April 2023. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 19 September 2023 (reference data up to July 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.