Euro area monthly balance of payments: April 2022

21 June 2022

• Current account deficit increased to €6 billion in April 2022, up from €2 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €182 billion (1.5% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to April 2022, down from €316 billion (2.7%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €348 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €84 billion in 12 months to April 2022

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 deficit of €6 billion in April 2022, following a deficit of €2 billion in the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€14 billion), goods (€3 billion) and primary income (€1 billion). These were partly offset by a surplus for services (€12 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

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

Data for the current account of the euro area

In the 12 months to April 2022, the current account recorded a surplus of €182 billion (1.5% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €316 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to April 2021. This decline was driven by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €371 billion to €167 billion). This development was partly offset by larger surpluses for services (up from €74 billion to €120 billion) and primary income (up from €39 billion to €48 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €168 billion to €153 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 investments of €133 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to April 2022, following net investments of €179 billion in the 12 months to April 2021 (Chart 2 and Table 2). At the same time, non-residents disinvested €108 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12-month period to April 2022, following net acquisitions of €200 billion in the 12 months to April 2021.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity decreased to €106 billion in the 12 months to April 2022, down from €540 billion in the 12 months to April 2021. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro area residents decreased to €242 billion, from €452 billion in the 12 months to April 2021. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity decreased to €309 billion in the 12-month period to April 2022, down from € 344 billion in the 12 months to April 2021. Over the same period non-residents made net sales of euro area debt securities amounting to €225 billion, following net sales of €42 billion in the 12 months to April 2021.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

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

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 €191 billion in the 12 months to April 2022 (following net disposals of €115 billion in the 12 months to April 2021), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €738 billion (up from €202 billion in the 12 months to April 2021).

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 decreased by €270 billion in the 12-month period to April 2022. This decrease was mainly driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in portfolio investment debt and direct investment. These developments were partly offset by the current and capital accounts surplus and by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and other investment.

In April 2022 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1144.2 billion, up from €1102.8 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven by positive price changes (€26.6 billion, mainly due to a €27.4 billion price increase for monetary gold) and exchange rate changes (€15.7 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 for the reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release does not incorporate revisions to the data for previous periods.

Next releases:

• Quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: 5 July 2022 (reference data up to the first quarter of 2022)
• Monthly balance of payments: 20 July 2022 (reference data up to May 2022)

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.