Euro area monthly balance of payments: October 2023

20 December 2023

• Current account recorded €34 billion surplus in October 2023, up from €31 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €218 billion (1.5% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to October 2023, after a €56 billion deficit (0.4%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €398 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €429 billion in the 12 months to October 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 €34 billion in October 2023, an increase of €3 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€30 billion) and services (€20 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€14 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 October 2023, the current account recorded a surplus of €218 billion (1.5% of euro area GDP), compared with a deficit of €56 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a switch from a deficit (€76 billion) to a surplus for goods (€237 billion), and, to a lesser extent, by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €174 billion to €157 billion). These developments were partly offset by reductions in the surpluses for primary income (down from €47 billion to €5 billion) and services (down from €147 billion to €133 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 €352 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to October 2023, following net investments of €226 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €431 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to October 2023, following net disinvestments of €110 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity reached €27 billion in the 12 months to October 2023, following net sales of €184 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €371 billion, following net sales of €40 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €91 billion in the 12 months to October 2023, down from €173 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €338 billion, following net sales of €137 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 €144 billion in the 12 months to October 2023 (following net acquisitions of €270 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €331 billion (following net incurrences of liabilities of €384 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 rose by €297 billion in the 12 months to October 2023. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in other investment and portfolio investment debt and equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In October 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,154.1 billion, up from €1,113.5 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This development was driven by positive price changes (€39.4 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€3.8 billion), which were partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€2.6 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: 11 January 2024 (reference data up to the third quarter of 2023)
• Monthly balance of payments: 18 January 2024 (reference data up to November 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.