- Current account recorded €23 billion surplus in December 2021, down from €24 billion in previous month
- Current account surplus amounted to €310 billion (2.6% of euro area GDP) in 2021, up from €213 billion (1.9%) in 2020
- In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €752 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €240 billion in 2021
The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €23 billion in December 2021, a decrease of €1 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for services (€18 billion), goods (€11 billion) and primary income (€7 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€14 billion).
Dataforthecurrentaccountoftheeuroarea
In 2021, the current account recorded a surplus of €310 billion (2.6% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €213 billion (1.9% of euro area GDP) in 2020. This increase was driven by larger surpluses for services (up from €6 billion to €123 billion) and primary income (up from €32 billion to €53 billion), only partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €340 billion to €296 billion). The deficit for secondary income remained broadly stable (down from €164 billion to €163 billion).
In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €107 billion in non-euro area assets in 2021, following net disinvestments of €15 billion in 2020 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €168 billion in net terms from euro area assets in 2021, following net acquisitions of €160 billion in 2020.
In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €329 billion in 2021, up from €306 billion in 2020. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro area residents increased to €423 billion, up from €368 billion in 2020. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €453 billion in 2021, up from €118 billion in 2020. Over the same period, non-residents made net sales of euro area debt securities amounting to €213 billion, following net purchases of €17 billion in 2020.
Dataforthefinancialaccountoftheeuroarea
In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €164 billion in 2021 (following net acquisitions of €307 billion in 2020), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €744 billion (up from €456 billion in 2020).
The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs decreased by €151 billion in 2021. This decrease was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in portfolio investment debt and, to a lesser extent, in direct investment. These developments were partly offset by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity, other investment and other flows.
In December 2021 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,057.0 billion, up from €1,045.4 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven by positive price changes in monetary gold (€10.8 billion) and positive exchange rate changes (€1.5 billion), only partly offset by net sales of assets (€0.8 billion).
ecb.europa.eu
