Euro area monthly balance of payments: May 2024
19 July 2024
- Current account recorded €37 billion surplus in May 2024, unchanged from the previous month
- Current account surplus amounted to €349 billion (2.4% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to May 2024, after a balanced account one year earlier
- In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €513 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €646 billion in the 12 months to May 2024
Chart 1
Euro area current account balance
(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)
Source: ECB.
The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €37 billion in May 2024, unchanged from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€33 billion), services (€15 billion) and primary income (€ 4 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€14 billion).
Table 1
Current account of the euro area
(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; working day and seasonally adjusted data)
Source: ECB.
Note: Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.
In the 12 months to May 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €349 billion (2.4% of euro area GDP), after recording a balanced account one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a shift from a deficit (€1 billion) to a surplus (€347 billion) for goods and, to a lesser extent, by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €172 billion to €166 billion) and a larger surplus for services (up from €131 billion to €134 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for primary income (down from €42 billion to €34 billion).
Chart 2
Selected items of the euro area financial account
(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)
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 €143 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to May 2024, declining from net disinvestments of €261 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €329 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to May 2024, increasing from net disinvestments of €259 billion one year earlier.
In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity amounted to €56 billion in the 12 months to May 2024, following net sales of €59 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €457 billion, up from €138 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €259 billion in the 12 months to May 2024, up from €137 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area debt securities rose to €387 billion, up from €196 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)
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.
In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €226 billion in the 12 months to May 2024 (up from €23 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €127 billion (down from €271 billion one year earlier).
Chart 3
Monetary presentation of the balance of payments
(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)
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 increased by €551 billion in the 12 months to May 2024. This increase was 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 equities, other investment and other flows. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.
In May 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets slightly decreased to €1,253.4 billion down from €1,253.8 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was mainly driven by negative exchange rate changes (€5.1 billion), mostly offset by positive price changes (€2.3 billion) and net acquisitions of assets (€1.6 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)
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 revisions
This press release incorporates revisions to the data for April 2024. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.
Next releases:
- Monthly balance of payments: 20 August 2024 (reference data up to June 2024)
- Quarterly balance of payments: 04 October 2024 (reference data up to the second 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.
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