Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2023

20 June 2023

• Current account recorded €4 billion surplus in April 2023, down from €31 billion in previous month
• Current account deficit amounted to €55 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to April 2023, compared with a surplus of €138 billion (1.1% of euro area GDP) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €106 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €219 billion in 12 months to April 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 €4 billion in April 2023, a decrease of €27 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€16 billion) and services (€4 billion), while deficits occurred in secondary income (€15 billion) and primary income (€2 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 April 2023, the current account recorded a deficit of €55 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €138 billion (1.1% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €140 billion to €23 billion), a switch from a surplus (€36 billion) to a deficit (€17 billion) for primary income, and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €118 billion to €104 billion) and a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €157 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 €189 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to April 2023, following net investments of €113 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €336 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to April 2023, following net disinvestments of €79 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity amounted to €135 billion in the 12 months to April 2023, following net purchases of €152 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €29 billion, following net purchases of €266 billion in the 12 months to April 2022. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity amounted to €103 billion in the 12 months to April 2023, down from €466 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €116 billion, following net sales of €243 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 acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €25 billion in the 12 months to April 2023 (down from €279 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities amounting to €210 billion (following acquisitions of €733 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 €102 billion in 12 months to April 2023. This increase was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and 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 and other investment.

In April 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased to €1,120.8 billion, down from €1,133.1 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was driven by negative exchange rate changes (€5.0 billion), negative price changes (€4.9 billion) and net sales of assets (€1.8 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 does not incorporate revisions to previous periods.

Next releases:

• Quarterly balance of payments: 4 July 2023 (reference data up to the first quarter of 2023)
• Monthly balance of payments: 20 July 2023 (reference data up to May 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.