Euro area monthly balance of payments: February 2023

Current account recorded €24 billion surplus in February 2023, up from €19 billion in previous month
Current account deficit amounted to €114 billion (0.9% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to February 2023, compared with a surplus of €222 billion (1.8%) one year earlier
In financial account, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €202 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €175 billion in 12 months to February 2023

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €24 billion in February 2023, an increase of €5 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€28 billion) and services (€12 billion). These were partly offset by deficits for secondary income (€12 billion) and primary income (€5 billion).

Data for the current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to February 2023, the current account recorded a deficit of €114 billion (0.9% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €222 billion (1.8% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to February 2022. This change in the current account balance was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (€214 billion) to a deficit (€51 billion) for goods, a switch from a surplus (€57 billion) to a deficit (€20 billion) for primary income and, to a lesser extent, by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €158 billion to €161 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for services (up from €109 billion to €118 billion).

In direct investment, euro area residents made net disinvestments of €209 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to February 2023, following net investments of €132 billion in the 12 months to February 2022 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €344 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to February 2023, following net disinvestments of €86 billion in the 12 months to February 2022.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area equity amounted to €174 billion in the 12 months to February 2023, following net purchases of €276 billion in the 12 months to February 2022. Over the same period, net sales of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents amounted to €28 billion, following net purchases of €349 billion in the 12 months to February 2022. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €106 billion in the 12 months to February 2023, down from €555 billion in the 12 months to February 2022. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area debt securities amounted to €69 billion, following net sales of €199 billion in the 12 months to February 2022.

Data for the financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net disposals of non-euro area assets amounting to €29 billion in the 12 months to February 2023 (following net acquisitions of €380 billion in the 12 months to February 2022), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities amounting to €194 billion in the 12 months to February 2023 (following net acquisitions of €808 billion in the 12 months to February 2022).

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs decreased by €91 billion in the 12 months to February 2023. This decrease was driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment, other investment and other flows. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and debt and, to a lesser extent, by the current and capital accounts surplus.

In February 2023 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased to €1,096.1 billion, down from €1,125.4 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was driven by negative price changes (€22.0 billion) and by net sales of assets (€11.4 billion) which were partly offset by positive exchange rate changes (€ 4.1 billion).