Euro area monthly balance of payments: October 2024

19 December 2024

• Current account recorded €26 billion surplus in October 2024, down from €39 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €435 billion (2.9% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to October 2024, up from €206 billion (1.4%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €623 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €741 billion in the 12 months to October 2024

Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €26 billion in October 2024, a decrease of €13 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€30 billion) and services (€15 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€15 billion) and primary income (€5 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

In the 12 months to October 2024, the current account surplus widened to €435 billion (2.9% of euro area GDP), up from €206 billion (1.4% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This increase was mainly driven by a larger surplus for goods (up from €208 billion to €397 billion), and, to a lesser extent, by a larger surplus for services (up from €129 billion to €173 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €168 billion to €163 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for primary income (down from €36 billion to €28 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

In direct investment, euro area residents made net disinvestments of €79 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to October 2024, declining from net disinvestments of €329 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €240 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12 months to October 2024, decreasing from net disinvestments of €411 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €154 billion in the 12 months to October 2024, up from €105 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €469 billion, up from €430 billion one year earlier. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €363 billion in the 12 months to October 2024, up from €143 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro area debt securities decreased to €378 billion, down from €425 billion one year earlier.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €377 billion in the 12 months to October 2024 (following net disposals of €101 billion one year earlier), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €43 billion (down from €340 billion one year earlier).

Chart 3

Monetary presentation of the balance of payments

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €580 billion in the 12 months to October 2024. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and debt, other investment and other flows. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.

In October 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,386.9 billion, up from €1,318.9 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mainly driven by positive price changes (€61.4 billion), due to an increase in the price of gold, and, to a lesser extent, by positive exchange rate changes (€6.9 billion). These developments were partly offset by net sales of assets (€0.2 billion).

Table 3

Reserve assets of the euro area

(EUR billions; amounts outstanding at the end of the period, flows during the period; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

Data revisions

This press release includes revisions to the seasonally and working-day adjusted current account and its components from January 2013 onwards owing to the incorporation of newly estimated seasonal and working-day factors. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Quarterly balance of payments: 13 January 2025 (reference data up to the third quarter of 2024)
• Monthly balance of payments: 17 January 2025 (reference data up to November 2024)

For media queries, please contact Philippe Rispal, tel.: +49 69 1344 5482.

Notes

• Current account data are always seasonally and working day-adjusted, unless otherwise indicated, whereas capital and financial account data are neither seasonally nor working day-adjusted.
• Hyperlinks in this press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.