Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: third quarter of 2020 (895 KB)

Statistical release

12 January 2021

Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position:

third quarter of 2020

• Current accountsurplus at €231 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) in four quarters to third quarter of 2020, down from €265 billion a year earlier
• Geographic counterparts: largest bilateral surpluses vis-à-visUnited Kingdom (€138 billion) and United States (€73 billion), with largest deficits vis-à-visoffshore centres (€100 billion) and China (€79 billion)
• International investment positionshowed net liabilities of €10 billion (around 0.1% of euro area GDP) at end of third quarter

Current account

The current account surplus of the euro area declined to €231 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) in the four quarters to the third quarter of 2020, from €265 billion a year earlier (see Table 1). This decrease reflected a reduction in the surpluses for services (from €72 billion to €10 billion) and primary income (from €60 billion to €40 billion). These developments were partly offset by an increase in the surplus for goods (from €297 billion to €326 billion) and a lower deficit for secondary income (down from €164 billion to €145 billion).

The smaller surplus for services was mainly due to a decline in the surplus for travel (from €40 billion to €12 billion) and increases in the deficit for other business services (from €81 billion to €100 billion) and for other services (from €10 billion to €21 billion). These developments were only partially offset by an increase in the surplus for telecommunication, computer and information services (from €90 billion to €97 billion).

European Central Bank

Directorate General Statistics

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Statistical information request, website:www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Statistical release / 12 January 2021

Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: third quarter of 2020

The decrease in the primary income surplus was due to a fall in the surplus for investment income (from €34 billion to €10 billion). This reflected mainly a lower surplus for direct investment income (down from €99 billion to €38 billion), which was partly offset by a smaller deficit for portfolio equity income (down from €110 billion to €77 billion) and a larger surplus for portfolio debt income (up from €29 billion to €36 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

(EUR billions, unless otherwise indicated; transactions during the period; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted)

Source: ECB.

Notes: "Equity" comprises equity and investment fund shares. Discrepancies between totals and their components may arise from rounding.

Data for the current account of the euro area

Data on the geographic counterparts of the euro area current account (see Chart 1) show that in the four quarters to the third quarter of 2020 the euro area recorded its largest bilateral surpluses vis-à-vis the United Kingdom (€138 billion, down from €189 billion a year earlier), the United States (€73 billion, down from €111 billion) and Switzerland (€53 billion, down from €59 billion). It also recorded a current

European Central Bank

Directorate General Statistics

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Statistical information request, website:www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Statistical release / 12 January 2021

Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: third quarter of 2020

account surplus vis-à-vis a residual group of other countries (€172 billion, up from €100 billion). The largest bilateral deficits were recorded vis-à-visoffshore centres (€100 billion, up from €77 billion) and China (€79 billion, up from €69 billion).

The most significant geographic changes in the four quarters to the third quarter of 2020 relative to the previous year were as follows. In the goods balance there were decreases in the surpluses vis-à-vis the United Kingdom (from €113 billion to €95 billion) and offshore centres (from €49 billion to €31 billion), an increase in the deficit vis-à-visChina (from €82 billion to €92 billion), and a shift from a deficit of €14 billion to a surplus of €68 billion vis-à-vis the residual group of other countries, partly reflecting a decline in the deficit vis-à-visRussia (from €39 billion to €10 billion). In services, the deficit vis-à-vis the United States increased (from €15 billion to €58 billion) and the surplus vis-à-vis the United Kingdom decreased (from €45 billion to €31 billion). Moreover, in primary income surpluses decreased vis-à-vis the United Kingdom (from €27 billion to €11 billion) and vis-à-vis the residual group of other countries (from €120 billion to €106 billion) were recorded, while the secondary income deficit vis-à-vis the EU Member States and EU institutions outside the euro area declined from €103 billion to €80 billion.

Chart 1

Geographical breakdown of the euro area current account balance

(four-quarter moving sums in EUR billions; non-seasonally adjusted)

Source: ECB.

Note: "EU non-EA" comprises EU Member States and EU institutions outside the euro area. "Other countries" includes all countries and country groups not shown in the chart, as well as unallocated transactions.

Data for the geographical breakdown of the euro area current account

European Central Bank

Directorate General Statistics

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Statistical information request, website:www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Statistical release / 12 January 2021

Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: third quarter of 2020

International investment position

At the end of the third quarter of 2020 the international investment position of the euro area recorded net liabilities of €10 billion vis-à-vis the rest of the world (0.1% of euro area GDP), compared with net liabilities of €100 billion in the previous quarter (see Chart 2 and Table 2).

Chart 2

Net international investment position of the euro area

(net amounts outstanding at the end of the period as a percentage of four-quarter moving sums of GDP)

Source: ECB.

Data for the net international investment position of the euro area

This improvement of €90 billion reflected large but partly offsetting changes in the various investment components. Smaller net liabilities were recorded for portfolio equity (€2,482 billion, down from €2,616 billion) and other investment (€562 billion, down from €662 billion), while net assets increased in direct investment (€1,830 billion, up from €1,813 billion) and decreased for portfolio debt (€392 billion, down from €531 billion).

European Central Bank

Directorate General Statistics

Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Statistical information request, website:www.ecb.europa.eu

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.