- In April 2019 the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €21 billion, compared with a surplus of €25 billion in March 2019.[1]
- In the 12-month period to April 2019, the current account recorded a surplus of €315 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP), down from €391 billion (3.4% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to April 2018.
- In the financial account, euro area residents made net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalling €41 billion in the 12-month period to April 2019 (decreasing from €640 billion in the 12 months to April 2018). Non-residents made net sales of euro area portfolio investment securities totalling €87 billion (in comparison with net purchases of €369 billion).
The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €21 billion in April 2019, a decrease of €4 billion from the previous month (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€22 billion), services (€6 billion) and primary income (€4 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€12 billion).
Data for the current account of the euro area
In the 12 months to April 2019, the current account recorded a surplus of €315 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €391 billion (3.4% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to April 2018. This decline was driven mainly by smaller surpluses for goods (down from €324 billion to €274 billion) and services (down from €111 billion to €98 billion), and by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €138 billion to €156 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for primary income (up from €93 billion to €98 billion).
In direct investment, euro area residents made net disinvestments of €244 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to April 2019, compared with net investments of €116 billion in the 12 months to April 2018 (see Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents also made net disinvestments in the euro area of €121 billion, following net investments of €24 billion.
In portfolio investment, net acquisitions of foreign debt securities by euro area residents decreased to €86 billion in the 12-month period to April 2019, down from €424 billion in the 12 months to April 2018. Over the same period, a shift was observed in the investment activity of euro area residents in foreign equity, with net purchases of €216 billion in the 12-month period to April 2018 being followed by net sales of €45 billion in the 12 months to April 2019. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity fell to €106 billion in the 12 months to April 2019, down from €340 billion in the 12 months to April 2018. At the same time, a shift was recorded in non-residents’ investment activity in euro area debt securities from net purchases of €29 billion in the 12-month period to April 2018 to net sales of €193 billion in the 12 months to April 2019.
Data for the financial account of the euro area
In other investment,euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign assets increased to €278 billion in the 12 months to April 2019 (up from €116 billion in the 12 months to April 2018). Furthermore, their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €170 billion, from €144 billion.
The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (see Chart 3) shows that the net external assets of euro area MFIs increased by €186 billion in the 12-month period to April 2019. This increase was driven mainly by the euro area’s current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by non‑MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and direct investment. This was partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in portfolio investment debt securities.
In April 2019 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased to €740.4 billion, down from €741.1 billion in the previous month (see Table 3). This decrease of €0.7 billion was driven mainly by negative price changes of monetary gold, which were partly offset by net acquisitions of assets, mostly an increase in the reserve position in the IMF.
