Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 2021 (481 KB)

Press release

20 October 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 2021

• Current accountrecorded €13 billion surplus in August 2021, down from €23 billion in previous month
• Current accountsurplus amounted to €328 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to August 2021, up from €176 billion (1.5%) one year earlier
• Infinancial account, euro area residents' net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €942 billion and non-residents' net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €129 billion in 12 months to August 2021

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: [phone], e-mail:[e-mail], website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 20 October 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 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 €13 billion in August 2021, a decrease of €10 billion from the previous month (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€17 billion) and primary income (€5 billion). These were partly offset by deficits for secondary income (€8 billion) and services (€1 billion).

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: [phone], e-mail:[e-mail], website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 20 October 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 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 August 2021, the current account recorded a surplus of €328 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €176 billion (1.5% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to August 2020. This increase was mainly driven by a switch in the services balance from a deficit of €32 billion to a surplus of €84 billion and also by larger surpluses for goods (up from €315 billion to €365 billion) and primary income (up from €42 billion to €49 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €149 billion to €170 billion).

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: [phone], e-mail:[e-mail], website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 20 October 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 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 disinvestments of €9 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to August 2021, following net investments of €21 billion in the 12 months to August 2020 (see Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €37 billion from euro area assets in the 12-month period to August 2021, following net investments of €91 billion in the 12 months to August 2020.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents' net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €535 billion in the 12-month period to August 2021, up from €162 billion in the 12 months to August 2020. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro area residents increased to €406 billion in the 12-month period to August 2021, up from €358 billion in the 12 months to August 2020. Non-residents made net sales of euro area debt securities amounting to €227 billion in the 12 months to August 2021, following net purchases of €260 billion in the 12 months to August 2020. Over the same period, non-residents' net purchases of euro area equity increased to €356 billion, up from €202 billion in the 12 months to August 2020.

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: [phone], e-mail:[e-mail], website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Press release / 20 October 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 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 acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €48 billion in the 12 months to August 2021 (following net acquisitions of €99 billion in the 12 months to August 2020), while their net incurrence of liabilities was €593 billion (following net disposals of €55 billion in the 12 months to August 2020). This latter development partly reflects the "2021 General Allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)" as explained below.

European Central Bank

Directorate General Communications, Global Media Relations Division

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: [phone], e-mail:[e-mail], website: www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.