Euro area balance of payments in October 2013

In October 2013 the seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €21.8 billion. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net outflows of €7 billion (non-seasonally adjusted).

Current account

The seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €21.8 billion in October 2013 (see Table 1). This reflected surpluses for goods (€17.0 billion), services (€9.4 billion) and income (€4.7 billion), which were partly offset by a deficit for current transfers (€9.4 billion).

The seasonally adjusted 12-month cumulated current account for the period ending in October 2013 recorded a surplus of €208.3 billion (2.2% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €109.8 billion (1.2% of euro area GDP) for the 12-month period up to October 2012 (see Table 1 and Chart 1). The increase in the surplus of the current account was due mainly to a significant increase in the surplus for goods (€168.0 billion, up from €85.6 billion), as well as higher surpluses for services (€100.3 billion, after €87.7 billion) and income (€55.5 billion, after €45.7 billion), albeit to a lesser extent.

Financial account

In the financial account (see Table 2), combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net outflows of €7 billion in October 2013 as a result of net outflows for both portfolio investment (€5 billion) and direct investment (€2 billion).

The net outflows for direct investment resulted from net outflows for equity capital and reinvested earnings (€5 billion) that were partly offset by net inflows in other capital (mostly inter-company loans) (€3 billion).

The net outflows for portfolio investment were mainly accounted for by net outflows for debt instruments (€6 billion), which were partly offset by net inflows for equity (€1 billion). The net outflows for debt instruments resulted from net outflows for money market instruments (€18 billion), which were partly offset by net inflows for bonds and notes (€11 billion). This reflected net sales of euro area money market instruments by non-residents (€21 billion), which were partly offset by euro area residents’ net sales of foreign money market instruments (€3 billion) and by non-residents’ net purchases of euro area bonds and notes (€12 billion).

The financial derivatives account recorded net inflows of €3 billion.

Other investment recorded net outflows of €23 billion, reflecting net outflows for MFIs (excluding the Eurosystem) (€24 billion), for general government (€6 billion) and for the Eurosystem (€3 billion), which were partly offset by net inflows for other sectors (€9 billion).

The Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased by €7 billion in October 2013 (to €580 billion, from €587 billion in September), mainly on account of a decrease in the market price of gold, with net transactions contributing €1 billion to the overall decrease in reserve assets.

In the 12-month period up to October 2013, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded cumulated net inflows of €5 billion, compared with net inflows of €4 billion in the 12-month period up to October 2012. This was a result of higher net inflows for portfolio investment (from net inflows of €20 billion to net inflows of €73 billion), which were partly offset by higher net outflows for direct investment (from net outflows of €16 billion to net outflows of €68 billion).

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for September 2013. These revisions have not significantly altered the figures published previously for the current, capital and financial accounts.

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 October 2013 will also be published in the January 2014 issues of the ECB’s Monthly Bulletin and the Statistics Pocket Book. Detailed methodological notes are available on the ECB’s website. The next press release on the combined euro area monthly balance of payments and quarterly international investment position will be published on 23 January 2014. The ECB will start publishing, at the end of 2014, the euro area balance of payments and international investment position statistics in accordance with its Guideline ECB/2011/23, which adheres to the sixth edition of the IMF’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6). More detailed information is available on a dedicated webpage

Annexes

Table 1: Current account of the euro area

Table 2: Monthly balance of payments of the euro area