Euro area monthly balance of payments: March 2024

• PRESS RELEASE

Euro area monthly balance of payments: March 2024

21 May 2024

• Current account recorded €36 billion surplus in March 2024, up from €29 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €310 billion (2.1% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to March 2024, after a €76 billion deficit (0.6% of euro area GDP) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €484 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €539 billion in the 12 months to March 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 €36 billion in March 2024, an increase of €7 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€33 billion), primary income (€ 9 billion) and services (€ 5 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€11 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 March 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €310 billion (2.1% of euro area GDP), compared with a deficit of €76 billion (0.6% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a switch from a deficit (€34 billion) to a surplus (€316 billion) for goods and, to a lesser extent, by a switch from a deficit (€4 billion) to a surplus (€35 billion) for primary income, as well as by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €165 billion to €157 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €127 billion to €116 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 €359 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to March 2024, increasing from net disinvestments of €63 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €395 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to March 2024, rising from net disinvestments of €323 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity amounted to €32 billion in the 12 months to March 2024, after net sales of €133 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €452 billion, up from €2 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €177 billion in the 12 months to March 2024, up from €108 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area debt securities rose to €362 billion, up from €61 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 €127 billion in the 12 months to March 2024 (following net disposals of €59 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €157 billion (up from €127 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 €459 billion in the 12 months to March 2024. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in other investment, portfolio investment debt and portfolio investment equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In March 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,215.0 billion up from €1,156.1 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mainly driven by positive price changes (€59.5 billion), mostly due to an increase in the price of gold. This was slightly offset by net sales of assets (€0.5 billion) and negative exchange rate changes (€0.1 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 and February 2024. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 19 June 2024 (reference data up to April 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