- Current account recorded €20 billion deficit in July 2022, down from €4 billion surplus in previous month
- Current account surplus amounted to €63 billion (0.5% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to July 2022, down from €370 billion (3.1%) one year earlier
- In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €74 billion and non-residents’ net sales of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €138 billion in 12 months to July 2022
The current account of the euro area recorded a deficit of €20 billion in July 2022, a decrease of €24 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Deficits were recorded for goods (€18 billion) and secondary income (€15 billion). These were partly offset by surpluses for services (€10 billion) and primary income (€3 billion).
Note: Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.
Data for the current account of the euro area
In the 12 months to July 2022, the current account recorded a surplus of €63 billion (0.5% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €370 billion (3.1% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to July 2021.
This decline was predominantly driven by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €383 billion to €60 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by a smaller surplus for primary income (down from €65 billion to €31 billion). This development was partly offset by a larger surplus for services (up from €83 billion to €132 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €161 billion to €160 billion).
In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €114 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to July 2022, following net investments of €7 billion in the 12 months to July 2021 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €100 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12-month period to July 2022, following net disinvestments of €26 billion in the 12 months to July 2021.
In portfolio investment, euro area residents switched from net purchases of non-euro area equity of €554 billion in the 12 months to July 2021 to net sales of €55 billion in the 12 months to July 2022. Over the same period, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area debt securities decreased to €129 billion, down from €428 billion in the 12 months to July 2021. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €112 billion in the 12-month period to July 2022, down from €344 billion in the 12 months to July 2021. Over the same period, non-residents made net sales of euro area debt securities amounting to €249 billion, following net sales of €241 billion in the 12 months to July 2021.
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 €377 billion in the 12 months to July 2022 (following net acquisitions of €45 billion in the 12 months to July 2021), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €858 billion (up from €453 billion in the 12 months to July 2021).
The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs decreased by €168 billion in the 12-month period to July 2022. This decrease was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment, portfolio investment debt and, to a lesser extent, other investment. These developments were partly offset by the current and capital accounts surplus and by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity.
In July 2022 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,129.1 billion, up from €1,122.1 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven mostly by positive exchange rate changes (€9.4 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€1.6 billion) that were partially offset by negative price changes (€3.9 billion).
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