Euro area monthly balance of payments: July 2024

• PRESS RELEASE

Euro area monthly balance of payments: July 2024

19 September 2024

• Current account recorded €40 billion surplus in July 2024, down from €51 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €388 billion (2.6% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to July 2024, up from €71 billion (0.5%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €477 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €642 billion in the 12 months to July 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 €40 billion in July 2024, a decrease of €11 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€35 billion) and services (€19 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€13 billion) and primary income (€ 1 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 July 2024, the current account surplus widened to €388 billion (2.6% of euro area GDP), up from €71 billion (0.5% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This increase was mainly driven by a larger surplus for goods (up from €77 billion to €371 billion), and, to a lesser extent, by larger surpluses for services (up from €127 billion to €140 billion) and primary income (up from €36 billion to €39 billion), as well as a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €169 billion to €163 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 €106 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to July 2024, declining from net disinvestments of €279 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €288 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to July 2024, decreasing from net disinvestments of €323 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €78 billion in the 12 months to July 2024, up from €4 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €399 billion, up from €306 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €312 billion in the 12 months to July 2024, up from €148 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area debt securities decreased to €329 billion, down from €362 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 €153 billion in the 12 months to July 2024 (following net acquisitions of close to zero one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €254 billion (down from €306 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 €558 billion in the 12 months to July 2024. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment debt, portfolio investment equities, other investment, and other flows. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.

In July 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,282.8 billion up from €1,267.5 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mainly driven by positive price changes (€20.1 billion), mostly due to an increase in the price of gold. This development was partly offset by net sales of assets (€3.2 billion) and negative exchange rate changes (€1.5 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: 04 October 2024 (reference data up to the second quarter of 2024)
• Monthly balance of payments: 18 October 2024 (reference data up to August 2024)

For media queries, please contact Nicos Keranis, 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

19 September 2024

Table: Annex to the press release on euro area monthly balance of payments