Press release

18 June 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2021

  • Current accountrecorded €23 billion surplus in April 2021, up from €18 billion in previous month
  • Current accountsurplus amounted to €288 billion (2.5% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to April 2021, up from €239 billion (2.0%) one year earlier
  • Infinancial account, euro area residents' net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €1 trillion and non-residents' net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €159 billion in 12 months to April 2021

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1344 7455, e-mail:media@ecb.europa.eu, website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 18 June 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2021

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 €23 billion in April 2021, an increase of €5 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€27 billion), services (€8 billion) and primary income (€1 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€13 billion).

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1344 7455, email: media@ecb.europa.eu, website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 18 June 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2021

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 be due to rounding.

Data for the current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to April 2021, the current account recorded a surplus of €288 billion (2.5% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €239 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to April 2020. This increase was driven by a larger surplus for services (up from €27 billion to €82 billion) and, to a lesser extent, for goods (up from €321 billion to €359 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for primary income (down from €41 billion to €16 billion) and an increase in the deficit for secondary income (up from €151 billion to €168 billion).

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1344 7455, email: media@ecb.europa.eu, website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 18 June 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2021

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 investments of €57 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to April 2021, following net disinvestments of €155 billion in the 12 months to April 2020 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents net investments in euro area assets increased to €187 billion in the 12-month period to April 2021, up from €32 billion in the 12 months to April 2020.

In portfolio investment, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro area residents increased to €499 billion in the 12-month period to April 2021, following net purchases of €357 billion in the 12 months to April 2020. Over the same period, euro area residents' net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €501 billion from €44 billion in the 12 months to April 2020. Non-residents made net sales of euro area debt securities amounting to €97 billion in the 12 months to April 2021, following net purchases of €183 billion in the 12 months to April 2020. Over the same period, non- residents' net purchases of euro area equity increased to €257 billion from €197 billion in the 12 months to April 2020.

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1344 7455, email: media@ecb.europa.eu, website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 18 June 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2021

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 be due to rounding.

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 €176 billion in the 12 months to April 2021 (following net acquisitions of €582 billion in the 12 months to April 2020), while their net incurrence of liabilities decreased to €164 billion from €309 billion.

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1344 7455, email: media@ecb.europa.eu, website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

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Banque de France published this content on 18 June 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 18 June 2021 13:02:06 UTC.