Euro area monthly balance of payments: February 2024

• PRESS RELEASE

Euro area monthly balance of payments: February 2024

18 April 2024

• Current account recorded €29 billion surplus in February 2024, down from €39 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €288 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to February 2024, after a €95 billion deficit (0.7%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €443 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €614 billion in the 12 months to February 2024

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 €29 billion in February 2024, a decrease of €10 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€34 billion) and services (€ 7 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€ 9 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 February 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €288 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP), compared with a deficit of €95 billion (0.7% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development in the current account balance was mainly driven by a switch from a deficit (€69 billion) to a surplus (€309 billion) for goods, and, to a lesser extent also by a switch from a deficit (€1 billion) to a surplus (€24 billion) for primary income, and by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €163 billion to €159 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €137 billion to €114 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 €375 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to February 2024, up from net disinvestments of €69 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €413 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to February 2024, up from net disinvestments of €339 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity amounted to €25 billion in the 12 months to February 2024, after net sales of €167 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €419 billion, after net sales of €7 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €220 billion in the 12 months to February 2024, up from €72 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €394 billion, up from €92 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 €193 billion in the 12 months to February 2024 (following net disposals of €129 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €165 billion (slightly down from €166 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 €468 billion in the 12 months to February 2024. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment debt, other investment, and portfolio investment equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In February 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets slightly decreased to €1,156.1 billion down from €1,158.1 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was driven by negative price changes (€2.4 billion) and negative exchange rate changes (€0.3 billion) which were partly offset by net acquisitions of assets (€0.9 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 January 2024. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 21 May 2024 (reference data up to March 2024)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 04 July 2024 (reference data up to the first quarter of 2024)

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.

European Central Bank