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  • PRESS RELEASE

Euro area monthly balance of payments: January 2024

21 March 2024

  • Current account recorded €39 billion surplus in January 2024, up from €32 billion in previous month
  • Current account surplus amounted to €294 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to January 2024, after a €91 billion deficit (0.7% of euro area GDP) one year earlier
  • In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €374 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €523 billion in the 12 months to January 2024

Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

A graph of different colored lines

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Source: ECB.

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €39 billion in January 2024, an increase of €7 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€47 billion) and services (€ 5 billion), while deficits were recorded for secondary income (€9 billion) and primary income (€3 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

A screenshot of a data sheet

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Source: ECB.

Note: Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to January 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €294 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP), compared with a deficit of €91 billion (0.7% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a switch from a deficit (€84 billion) to a surplus (€317 billion) for goods, and, to a lesser extent, by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €168 billion to €159 billion). These developments were partly offset by reductions in the surpluses for primary income (down from €18 billion to €1 billion) and services (down from €144 billion to €135 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

A graph of different colored lines

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Source: ECB.

Notes: For assets, a positive (negative) number indicates net purchases (sales) of non-euro area instruments by euro area investors. For liabilities, a positive (negative) number indicates net sales (purchases) of euro area instruments by non-euro area investors.

In direct investment, euro area residents made net disinvestments of €161 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to January 2024, increasing from net disinvestments of €63 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €219 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to January 2024, down from net disinvestments of €361 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity declined to €11 billion in the 12 months to January 2024, down from €185 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €385 billion, following net sales of €25 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €150 billion in the 12 months to January 2024, up from €66 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €373 billion, up from €30 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)

A screenshot of a computer

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Source: ECB.

Notes: Decreases in assets and liabilities are shown with a minus sign. Net financial derivatives are reported under assets. “MFIs” stands for monetary financial institutions. Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €119 billion in the 12 months to January 2024 (following net disposals of €28 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €240 billion (up from €56 billion one year earlier).

Chart 3

Monetary presentation of the balance of payments

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

A graph with different colored lines

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Source: ECB.

Notes: “MFI net external assets (enhanced)” incorporates an adjustment to the MFI net external assets (as reported in the consolidated MFI balance sheet items statistics) based on information on MFI long-term liabilities held by non-residents, available in b.o.p. statistics. B.o.p. transactions refer only to transactions of non-MFI residents of the euro area. Financial transactions are shown as liabilities net of assets. “Other” includes financial derivatives and statistical discrepancies.

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs rose by €497 billion in the 12 months to January 2024. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in other investment, portfolio investment debt and equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In January 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,158.1 billion up from €1,147.6 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mostly driven by positive exchange rate changes (€5.2 billion) and positive price changes (€4.3 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€0.8 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)

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Source: ECB.

Notes: “Other reserve assets” comprises currency and deposits, securities, financial derivatives (net) and other claims. Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release does not incorporate revisions to previous periods.

Next releases:

  • Quarterly balance of payments: 9 April 2024 (reference data up to the fourth quarter of 2023)
  • Monthly balance of payments: 18 April 2024 (reference data up to February 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.
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