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  • PRESS RELEASE

Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2023

20 June 2023

  • Current account recorded €4 billion surplus in April 2023, down from €31 billion in previous month
  • Current account deficit amounted to €55 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to April 2023, compared with a surplus of €138 billion (1.1% of euro area GDP) one year earlier
  • In financial account, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €106 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €219 billion in 12 months to April 2023

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 €4 billion in April 2023, a decrease of €27 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€16 billion) and services (€4 billion), while deficits occurred in secondary income (€15 billion) and primary income (€2 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 arise due to rounding.

Data for the current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to April 2023, the current account recorded a deficit of €55 billion (0.4% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €138 billion (1.1% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €140 billion to €23 billion), a switch from a surplus (€36 billion) to a deficit (€17 billion) for primary income, and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €118 billion to €104 billion) and a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €157 billion to €165 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 €189 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to April 2023, following net investments of €113 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €336 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to April 2023, following net disinvestments of €79 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity amounted to €135 billion in the 12 months to April 2023, following net purchases of €152 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €29 billion, following net purchases of €266 billion in the 12 months to April 2022. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity amounted to €103 billion in the 12 months to April 2023, down from €466 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €116 billion, following net sales of €243 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 arise 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 €25 billion in the 12 months to April 2023 (down from €279 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities amounting to €210 billion (following acquisitions of €733 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 €102 billion in 12 months to April 2023. This increase was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and portfolio investment debt, and the current and capital accounts surplus. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment and other investment.

In April 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased to €1,120.8 billion, down from €1,133.1 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was driven by negative exchange rate changes (€5.0 billion), negative price changes (€4.9 billion) and net sales of assets (€1.8 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)

Source: ECB.

Notes: “Other reserve assets” comprises currency and deposits, securities, financial derivatives (net) and other claims. Discrepancies between totals and their components may arise 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: 4 July 2023 (reference data up to the first quarter of 2023)
  • Monthly balance of payments: 20 July 2023 (reference data up to May 2023)

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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