Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2025

20 January 2026

• Current account recorded €9 billion surplus in November 2025, down from €27 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €267 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to November 2025, down from €414 billion (2.7%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €844 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €830 billion in the 12 months to November 2025

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 €9 billion in November 2025, a decrease of €18 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€24 billion) and services (€12 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€15 billion) and primary income (€12 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to November 2025, the current account recorded a surplus of €267 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €414 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This decrease was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (€46 billion) to a deficit (€56 billion) for primary income and, to a lesser extent, by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €173 billion to €137 billion) and a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €169 billion to €189 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €364 billion to €375 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 investments of €172 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to November 2025, following net disinvestments of €67 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents invested €79 billion in net terms in euro area assets in the 12 months to November 2025, following net disinvestments of €304 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased slightly to €221 billion in the 12 months to November 2025, up from €220 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €622 billion, up from €496 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €410 billion in the 12 months to November 2025, down from €423 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €421 billion, declining from €424 billion one year earlier.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €571 billion in the 12 months to November 2025 (increasing from €422 billion one year earlier), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €442 billion (from €44 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 €230 billion in the 12 months to November 2025. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in other investment and portfolio investment equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in portfolio investment debt, direct investment and other flows.

In November 2025 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,754.6 billion up from €1,709.9 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mainly driven by positive price changes (€42.7 billion), due to an increase in the price of gold, and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€2.7 billion), which were partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€0.7 billion).

Table 3

Reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for October 2025.These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 19 February 2026 (reference data up to December 2025)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 9 April 2026 (reference data up to the fourth quarter of 2025)

For media queries, please contact Benoît Deeg, tel.: +49 172 1683704.

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.