Euro area balance of payments in September 2011

In September 2011 the seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area was balanced. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net inflows of €14 billion (non-seasonally adjusted).

Current account

The seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area was balanced in September 2011 (see Table 1). This reflected surpluses for services (€5.0 billion), goods (€1.9 billion) and income (€0.9 billion), which were basically offset by a deficit for current transfers (€7.3 billion).

The 12-month cumulated seasonally adjusted current account recorded a deficit of €56.5 billion in September 2011 (around 0.6% of euro area GDP; see Table 1 and Chart 1), compared with a deficit of €26.2 billion a year earlier. The widening of the current account deficit resulted predominantly from a shift in the balance for goods from a surplus (€22.1 billion) to a deficit (€9.7 billion).

Financial account

In the financial account (see Table 2), combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net inflows of €14 billion in September 2011. This was due to net inflows for portfolio investment (€21 billion), which were partly offset by net outflows for direct investment (€7 billion).

The net outflows for direct investment resulted mainly from net outflows in other capital (mostly inter-company loans) (€7 billion).

Portfolio investment recorded net inflows for debt instruments (€15 billion) and for equity (€6 billion). These net inflows resulted mainly from net sales of foreign equity by euro area residents (€12 billion) and net purchases of euro area debt securities by residents outside the euro area (€15 billion).

The financial derivatives account recorded net inflows of €2 billion.

Other investment recorded net outflows of €14 billion, reflecting net outflows for MFIs excluding the Eurosystem (€26 billion) and other sectors (€17 billion) , which were partly offset by net inflows for the Eurosystem (€12 billion) and the general government (€17 billion).

The Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased from €656 billion to €647 billion in September 2011, mainly on account of valuation effects (with net transactions resulting in a decrease of €2 billion).

In the 12-month period to September 2011 combined direct and portfolio investment recorded cumulated net inflows of €369 billion, compared with net inflows of €31 billion in the preceding 12-month period. This increase was due to higher net inflows for portfolio investment (€335 billion, up from €158 billion) and a shift in direct investment from net outflows (€127 billion) to net inflows (€34 billion). The higher net inflows for portfolio investment mainly reflected higher net inflows in bonds and notes (€216 billion, up from €14 billion). The shift in direct investment mainly resulted from lower net outflows in other capital (mostly inter-company loans) (€9 billion, down from €210 billion).

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for August 2011. These revisions have not significantly changed the previously published data.

Additional information on the euro area balance of payments and international investment position

In this press release, the seasonally adjusted current account refers to working day and seasonally adjusted data. Data for the financial account are not working day or seasonally adjusted.

In line with the agreed allocation of responsibilities, the European Central Bank compiles and disseminates monthly and quarterly balance of payments statistics for the euro area, whereas the European Commission (Eurostat; see news releases for “Euro-indicators”) focuses on quarterly and annual aggregates for the European Union. These data comply with international standards, particularly those set out in the IMF’s Balance of Payments Manual (fifth edition). The aggregates for the euro area and the European Union are compiled consistently on the basis of transactions and positions vis-à-vis residents of countries outside the euro area and the European Union respectively.

A complete set of updated euro area balance of payments statistics (including a quarterly geographical breakdown for the main counterparts) and international investment position statistics is available in the “Statistics” section of the ECB’s website under the headings “Data services”/“Latest monetary, financial markets and balance of payments statistics”. These data, as well as historical euro area balance of payments time series, can be downloaded from the ECB’s Statistical Data Warehouse (SDW). Data up to September 2011 will also be published in the December 2011 issues of the ECB’s Monthly Bulletin and Statistics Pocket Book. Detailed methodological notes are available on the ECB’s website. The next press release on the euro area monthly balance of payments will be published on 19 December 2011.

Annexes

Table 1: Current account of the euro area

Table 2: Monthly balance of payments of the euro area