Euro area monthly balance of payments: June 2026

19 August 2026

• Current account recorded €35 billion surplus in June 2026, up from €26 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €276 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to June 2026, down from €305 billion (2.0%) one year earlier
• In financial account, euro area residents' net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €820 billion and non-residents' net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €1,123 billion in the 12 months to June 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 €35 billion in June 2026, an increase of €9 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€18 billion), primary income (€17 billion) and services (€16 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€16 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 June 2026, the current account recorded a surplus of €276 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €305 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 €342 billion to €282 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 (€10 billion) to a surplus (€38 billion) for primary income and a larger surplus for services (up from €150 billion to €159 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 €352 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to June 2026, up from €173 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents invested €71 billion in net terms in euro area assets in the 12 months to June 2026, up from €24 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents' net purchases of non-euro area equity decreased to €193 billion in the 12 months to June 2026, down from €258 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €627 billion, up from €604 billion one year earlier. Non-residents' net purchases of euro area equity increased to €499 billion in the 12 months to June 2026, up from €450 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €624 billion, up from €354 billion one year earlier.

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 €753 billion in the 12 months to June 2026 (following net acquisitions of €623 billion one year earlier), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €537 billion (up from €396 billion one year earlier).

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 €270 billion in the 12 months to June 2026. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and euro area non-MFIs' net inflows in portfolio investment equity, portfolio investment debt and other investment. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs' net outflows in direct investment and other flows.

In June 2026, the Eurosystem's stock of reserve assets decreased to €1,755.4 billion, down from €1,872.8 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was mainly driven by negative price changes (€123.5 billion), largely explained by a decline in the price of monetary gold, and, to a lesser extent, by net sales of assets (€0.8 billion), which were partly offset by positive exchange rate changes (€7.1 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 and May 2026. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 18 September 2026 (reference data up to July 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.