Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 2023

19 October 2023

• Current account recorded €28 billion surplus in August 2023, up from €21 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €126 billion (0.9% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to August 2023, up from €12 billion (0.1%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €307 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €489 billion in 12 months to August 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 €28 billion in August 2023, an increase of €7 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€35 billion) and services (€6 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€13 billion). The primary income balance was close to zero.

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 August 2023, the current account recorded a surplus of €126 billion (0.9% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €12 billion (0.1% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. The widening of the surplus was mainly driven by a switch from a deficit (€23 billion) to a surplus (€155 billion) for goods, and to a lesser extent, by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €175 billion to €157 billion). These developments were partly offset by smaller surpluses for primary income (down from €61 billion to €5 billion) and for services (down from €149 billion to €124 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 €368 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to August 2023, following net investments of €376 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €516 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to August 2023, following net investments of €65 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity decreased to €2 billion in the 12 months to August 2023, down from €78 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €309 billion, up from €78 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €156 billion in the 12 months to August 2023, down from €231 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €334 billion, following net sales of €162 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 €97 billion in the 12 months to August 2023 (following net acquisitions of €509 billion one year earlier), and they recorded net disposals of liabilities amounting to €294 billion (following net acquisitions of €735 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 €150 billion in the 12 months to August 2023. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment debt, portfolio investment equity and other investment. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In August 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,118.8 billion up from €1,109.7 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mostly driven by positive price changes (€4.5 billion) and positive exchange rate changes (€3.5 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€1.3 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 July 2023. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 17 November 2023 (reference data up to September 2023)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 11 January 2024 (reference data up to the third quarter of 2023)^[1]

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.