Euro area monthly balance of payments: May 2026

17 July 2026

• Current account recorded €25 billion surplus in May 2026, up from €17 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €272 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to May 2026, down from €318 billion (2.0%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents' net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €889 billion and non-residents' net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €1,005 billion in the 12 months to May 2026

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 €25 billion in May 2026, an increase of €8 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€16 billion), services (€14 billion) and primary income (€12 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€18 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 May 2026, the current account recorded a surplus of €272 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €318 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This decrease was mainly driven by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €350 billion to €286 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €176 billion to €202 billion). These developments were partly offset by a switch from a deficit (€8 billion) to a surplus (€31 billion) for primary income and, to a lesser extent, by a larger surplus for services (up from €152 billion to €157 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

In direct investment, euro area residents net investments increased to €335 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to May 2026, up from €164 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Over the same period, non-residents net investments increased to €64 billion in euro area assets, up from €5 billion.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents' net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €252 billion in the 12 months to May 2026, up from €242 billion one year earlier, while their net purchases of non-euro area debt securities increased to €636 billion, up from €583 billion. Over the same period, non-residents' net purchases of euro area equity increased to €500 billion, up from €451 billion, while their net purchases of euro area debt securities rose to €505 billion, up from €383 billion.

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 €702 billion in the 12 months to May 2026 (following net acquisitions of €442 billion one year earlier), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €583 billion (up from €178 billion).

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 €225 billion in the 12 months to May 2026. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and euro area non-MFIs' net inflows in portfolio investment equity and other investment. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs' net outflows in direct investment and portfolio investment debt.

In May 2026, the Eurosystem's stock of reserve assets decreased to €1,872.8 billion, down from €1,888.0 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was primarily driven by negative price changes (€23.0 billion), largely due to monetary gold, and partly offset by net acquisitions of assets (€6.2 billion) and positive exchange rate changes (€1.5 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 incorporates revisions to the data for April 2026. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 19 August 2026 (reference data up to June 2026)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 2 October 2026 (reference data up to the second quarter of 2026)

For media queries, please contact Benoit Deeg, tel.: +49 172 1683704.

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.