- STATISTICAL RELEASE
Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position:
first quarter of 2026
03 July 2026
- Current account surplus at €275 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP) in four quarters to first quarter of 2026, after a €352 billion surplus (2.3% of GDP) a year earlier
- Geographical counterparts: largest bilateral current account surplus vis-à-vis United Kingdom (€236 billion) and largest deficit vis-à-vis China (€170 billion)
- Net international investment position: net assets of €1.80 trillion (11.2% of euro area GDP) at end of first quarter of 2026
Current account
The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €275 billion (1.7% of euro area GDP) in the four quarters to the first quarter of 2026, following a €352 billion surplus (2.3% of GDP) a year earlier (Table 1). This decrease was mainly driven by a lower surplus for goods (from €344 billion to €313 billion), a wider deficit for secondary income (from €171 billion to €197 billion) and by a smaller surplus for services (from €169 billion to €149 billion). Moreover, the surplus for primary income decreased moderately from €11 billion to €10 billion.
Estimates on goods trade broken down by product group show that over the four quarters to the first quarter of 2026, the decrease in the goods surplus was mainly due to smaller surpluses for chemical products (from €308 billion to €253 billion) and for machinery and manufactured products (from €255 billion to €231 billion). These developments were partly offset by a smaller deficit for energy products (from €264 billion to €220 billion).
The smaller surplus for services in the four quarters to the first quarter of 2026 was mainly due to larger deficits for charges for the use of intellectual property (from €115 billion to €141 billion) and for other business services (from €55 billion to €70 billion). These developments were partly offset by a widening surplus for telecommunication, computer and information services (from €218 billion to €237 billion) and a larger surplus for travel (from €58 billion to €69 billion).
The modest decrease in the surplus in primary income in the four quarters to the first quarter of 2026 was mainly due to a reduction in the surplus for direct investment (from €71 billion to €53 billion), partly offset by a larger surplus for other investment (from €5 billion to €14 billion) and portfolio debt (from €82 billion to €89 billion).
Table 1
Current account of the euro area
Source: ECB.
Notes: “Equity” comprises equity and investment fund shares. Goods by product group are estimated using granular data from international trade in goods statistics (provided by Eurostat) based on the standard international trade classification. Discrepancies between totals and their components may arise from rounding.
Data on the geographical counterparts of the euro area current account (Chart 1) show that over the four quarters ending in the first quarter of 2026 the euro area recorded its largest bilateral surpluses vis-à-vis the United Kingdom (€236 billion, up from €217 billion a year earlier) and Switzerland (€78 billion, up from €64 billion). The euro area also recorded surpluses vis-à-vis other emerging economies (€140 billion, down from €161 billion a year earlier), other advanced economies (€111 billion, up from €103 billion) and offshore centres (€36 billion, up from €33 billion). The largest bilateral deficits were recorded vis-à-vis China (€170 billion, up from €130 billion a year earlier) and the United States (€82 billion, up from €3 billion). The euro area also recorded a deficit vis-à-vis the residual group of other countries (€83 billion, down from €100 billion).
The most significant changes in the current account components by geographical counterpart in the four quarters to the first quarter of 2026 relative to the previous year were as follows: in goods, the surplus vis-à-vis the United States decreased from €245 billion to €189 billion, while the deficit vis-à-vis China widened from €164 billion to €197 billion. In services, the deficit vis-à-vis the United States increased from €165 billion to €184 billion, while the balance vis-à-vis offshore centres shifted from a deficit (€8 billion) to a surplus (€8 billion). In primary income, the deficit vis-à-vis the United States increased from €81 billion to €87 billion and the surplus vis-à-vis China decreased from €15 billion to €9 billion, while in secondary income the deficit vis-à-vis EU Member States and EU institutions outside the euro area rose from €75 billion to €95 billion.
Chart 1
Geographical breakdown of the euro area current account balance
(four-quarter moving sums in EUR billions; non-seasonally adjusted)
Source: ECB.
Notes: “EU non-EA” comprises the non-euro area EU Member States and those EU institutions and bodies that are considered for statistical purposes as being outside the euro area, such as the European Commission and the European Investment Bank. “Other advanced” includes Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway and South Korea. “Other emerging” includes Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Türkiye. “Other countries” includes all countries and country groups not shown in the chart, as well as unallocated transactions.
International investment position
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the international investment position of the euro area recorded net assets of €1.80 trillion vis-à-vis the rest of the world (11.2% of euro area GDP), up from €1.65 trillion in the previous quarter (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.
The €147 billion increase in net assets was mainly driven by larger reserve assets (up from €1.78 trillion to €1.91 trillion) and higher net assets in portfolio debt (up from €1.61 trillion to €1.67 trillion). These developments were partly offset by higher net liabilities in portfolio equity (up from €4.24 trillion to €4.37 trillion).
Table 2
International investment position of the euro area
Source: ECB.
Notes: “Equity” comprises equity and investment fund shares. Net financial derivatives are reported under assets. “Other volume changes” mainly reflect reclassifications and data enhancements. Discrepancies between totals and their components may arise from rounding.
The developments in the euro area net international investment position in the first quarter of 2026 were driven mainly by positive exchange rate changes (€141 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by price changes (€69 billion) and transactions (€32 billion), which were partly offset by negative other volume changes (€95 billion) (Table 2 and Chart 3).
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, direct investment assets of special purpose entities (SPEs) amounted to €3.47 trillion (27% of total euro area direct investment assets), unchanged from the previous quarter (Table 2). Over the same period, direct investment liabilities of SPEs slightly increased from €3.17 trillion to €3.18 trillion (32% of total direct investment liabilities).
Gross external debt of the euro area amounted to €17.53 trillion (109% of euro area GDP) at the end of the first quarter of 2026, up by €565 billion compared with the previous quarter.
Chart 3
Changes in the net international investment position of the euro area
(EUR billions; flows during the period; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted)
Source: ECB.
Note: “Other volume changes” mainly reflect reclassifications and data enhancements.
Data revisions
This statistical release incorporates revisions to the data for the reference periods between the first quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2025. The revisions reflect revised national contributions to the euro area aggregates because of the incorporation of newly available information. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.
Next releases
- Monthly balance of payments: 17 July 2026 (reference data up to May 2026)
- Quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: 2 October 2026 (reference data up to the second quarter of 2026)
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Notes
- Data are neither seasonally nor working day-adjusted. Ratios to GDP (including in the charts) refer to four-quarter sums of non-seasonally and non-working day-adjusted GDP figures.
- Hyperlinks in this press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.