- PRESS RELEASE
Euro area monthly balance of payments: January 2022
22 March 2022
- Current account recorded €23 billion surplus in January 2022, unchanged from the previous month
- Current account surplus amounted to €294 billion (2.4% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to January 2022, up from €247 billion (2.2%) one year earlier
- In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €669 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €138 billion in 12 months to January 2022
Chart 1
Euro area current account balance
The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €23 billion in January 2022, unchanged from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for services (€16 billion), goods (€14 billion) and primary income (€6 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€13 billion).
Table 1
Current account of the euro area
In the 12 months to January 2022, the current account recorded a surplus of €294 billion (2.4% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €247 billion (2.2% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to January 2021. This increase was mainly driven by larger surpluses for services (up from €26 billion to €130 billion) and primary income (up from €31 billion to €54 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €163 billion to €160 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €353 billion to €270 billion).
Chart 2
Selected items of the euro area financial account
In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €95 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to January 2022, following net investments of €46 billion in the 12 months to January 2021 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €132 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12-month period to January 2022, following net acquisitions of €169 billion in the 12 months to January 2021.
In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity decreased to €314 billion in the 12 months to January 2022, down from €334 billion in the 12 months to January 2021. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro area residents decreased to €355 billion, down from € 374 billion in the 12 months to January 2021. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €372 billion in the 12-month period to January 2022, up from € 144 billion in the 12 months to January 2021. Over the same period non-residents made net sales of euro area debt securities amounting to €233 billion, following net sales of €20 billion in the 12 months to January 2021.
Table 2
Financial account of the euro area
In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €168 billion in the 12 months to January 2022 (following net acquisitions of €116 billion in the 12 months to January 2021), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €738 billion (up from €297 billion in the 12 months to January 2021).
Chart 3
Monetary presentation of the balance of payments
The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs decreased by €256 billion in the 12-month period to January 2022. This decrease was driven by the 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 January 2022 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets decreased slightly to €1056.9 billion, down from €1057.0 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was mainly driven by negative price changes (€2.6 billion), net sales of assets (€2.2 billion) and other volume changes (€0.4 billion) and was partly offset by positive exchange rate changes (€5.1 billion).
Table 3
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 April 2022 (reference data up to the fourth quarter of 2021)
- Monthly balance of payments: 22 April 2022 (reference data up to February 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.
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