Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 2024

18 October 2024

• Current account recorded €31 billion surplus in August 2024, down from €41 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €408 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to August 2024, up from €138 billion (1.0%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €510 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €718 billion in the 12 months to August 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 €31 billion in August 2024, a decrease of €10 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€32 billion) and services (€19 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€15 billion) and primary income (€ 4 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 August 2024, the current account surplus widened to €408 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP), up from €138 billion (1.0% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This increase was mainly driven by a larger surplus for goods (up from €147 billion to €379 billion), and, to a lesser extent, by larger surpluses for services (up from €129 billion to €162 billion) and primary income (up from €29 billion to €33 billion). The secondary income deficit remained broadly stable (slightly down from €166 billion to €165 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 €196 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to August 2024, declining from net disinvestments of €324 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €358 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to August 2024, decreasing from net disinvestments of €471 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €105 billion in the 12 months to August 2024, up from €56 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents rose to €406 billion, up from €361 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €324 billion in the 12 months to August 2024, up from €208 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area debt securities widened to €395 billion, up from €370 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 €204 billion in the 12 months to August 2024 (following net disposals of €73 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €248 billion (down from €280 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 €541 billion in the 12 months to August 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, portfolio investment equity and other investment. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In August 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,288.4 billion up from €1,282.8 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mainly driven by positive price changes (€15.4 billion), mostly due to an increase in the price of gold. This development was partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€6.8 billion) and net sales of assets (€3.0 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 July 2024. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 19 November 2024 (reference data up to September 2024)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 13 January 2025 (reference data up to the third quarter of 2024)^[1]

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.