Euro area monthly balance of payments: October 2019

• In October 2019 the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €32 billion, compared with a surplus of €28 billion in September 2019.
• In the 12-month period to October 2019, the current account recorded a surplus of €324 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €373 billion (3.2% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to October 2018.
• In the financial accounteuro area residents made net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalling €308 billion in the 12-month period to October 2019 (up from €283 billion in the 12 months to October 2018). Over the same period, non-residents made net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities amounting to €276 billion (up from €146 billion).

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €32 billion in October 2019, €4 billion more than the previous month (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€30 billion), services (€10 billion) and primary income (€6 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€13 billion).

Data for the current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to October 2019, the current account recorded a surplus of €324 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €373 billion (3.2% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to October 2018. This decline was mainly driven by a reduction in the surpluses for services (down from €117 billion to €79 billion) and to a smaller extent for primary income (down from €89 billion to €77 billion), but also by a widening of the secondary income deficit (up from €142 billion to €160 billion). These developments were only partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €308 billion to €328 billion).

In direct investment, euro area residents made net disinvestments of €299 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to October 2019, following net investments of €36 billion in the 12 months to October 2018 (see Chart 2 and Table 2). Over the same period, non-residents’ net disinvestments in euro area assets rose to €223 billion in the 12-month period to October 2019, compared to €74 billion in the 12 months to October 2018.

In portfolio investment, net purchases of foreign debt securities by euro area residents increased to €279 billion in the 12-month period to October 2019, following net purchases of €212 billion in the 12 months to October 2018. Over the same period, euro area residents made net purchases of foreign equity of €29 billion, down from €71 billion in the 12 months to October 2018. Non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities (€15 billion) in the 12 months to October 2019, after recording net sales of €6 billion in the 12 months to October 2018. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity rose to €262 billion from €152 billion.

Data for the financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign assets increased to €309 billion in the 12 months to October 2019 (following net acquisitions of €196 billion in the 12 months to October 2018), while their net incurrence of liabilities decreased to €16 billion from €262 billion.

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (see Chart 3) shows that the net external assets of euro area MFIs increased by €385 billion in the 12-month period to October 2019. This increase was driven by the euro area’s current and capital accounts surplus and by euro area non-MFIs’ portfolio investment equity and direct investment net inflows. This increase was only partly offset by net outflows in euro area non-MFIs’ portfolio investment debt securities.

In October 2019 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets declined to €816.5 billion from €827.0 billion in the previous month (see Table 3). This reflected both negative exchange rate changes (€6.7 billion) and price changes (€4.8 billion), with net acquisitions of assets (€1.0 billion) only partly offsetting the decline.

Data for the reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release does not incorporate revisions to previous periods.

Next press releases:

• quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: 10 January 2020 (reference data up to the third quarter of 2019)
• monthly balance of payments: 17 January 2020 (reference data up to November 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.