Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2020 (486 KB)

Press release

19 January 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2020

• Current accountrecorded €25 billion surplus in November 2020, down from €26 billion in previous month
• Current accountsurplus amounted to €231 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to November 2020, down from €278 billion (2.3%) one year earlier
• Infinancial account, euro area residents' net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €526 billion and non-residents' net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €231 billion in 12 months to November 2020

Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

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

Source: ECB.

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 / 19 January 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2020

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €25 billion in November 2020, decreasing by €1 billion from the previous month (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€34 billion), services (€9 billion) and primary income (€1 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€20 billion).

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 November 2020, the current account recorded a surplus of €231 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €278 billion (2.3% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to November 2019. This decline was driven by reductions in the surpluses for services (down from €65 billion to €26 billion) and for primary income (down from €53 billion to €24 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €320 billion to €335 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €159 billion to €155 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 / 19 January 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2020

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 €23 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to November 2020, following net disinvestments of €65 billion in the 12 months to November 2019 (see Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents made net investments in euro area assets of €101 billion in the 12-month period to November 2020, after net investments of €7 billion in the 12 months to November 2019.

In portfolio investment, net purchases of foreign debt securities by euro area residents decreased to €363 billion in the 12-month period to November 2020, following net purchases of €373 billion in the 12 months to November 2019. Over the same period, euro area residents' net purchases of foreign equity increased to €164 billion from €24 billion in the 12 months to November 2019. Non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €126 billion in the 12 months to November 2020, following net purchases of €124 billion in the 12 months to November 2019. Over the same period, non-residents' net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €106 billion from €303 billion in the 12 months to November 2019.

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 / 19 January 2021

Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2020

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' net acquisitions of foreign assets increased to €359 billion in the 12 months to November 2020 (following net acquisitions of €350 billion in the 12 months to November 2019), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €340 billion from €30 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.