Euro area balance of payments (October 2009)

In October 2009 the working day and seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a deficit of EUR 4.6 billion. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net inflows of EUR 18 billion (non-seasonally adjusted).

Current account

The working day and seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a deficit of EUR 4.6 billion in October 2009 (corresponding to a deficit of EUR 3.9 billion in non-adjusted terms). This reflected deficits in current transfers (EUR 13.4 billion) and income (EUR 2.2 billion), which were partly offset by surpluses in goods (EUR 8.3 billion) and services (EUR 2.6 billion).

The 12-month cumulated, working day-adjusted current account recorded a deficit of EUR 86.5 billion (around 1.0% of euro area GDP) in October 2009, compared with a deficit of EUR 118.0 billion a year earlier. The decrease in the current account deficit was mainly accounted for by a shift from a deficit (EUR 3.9 billion) to a surplus (EUR 19.5 billion) in goods, and by a decrease in the deficit in income (from EUR 60.0 billion to EUR 39.4 billion). These changes were only partly offset by a decrease in the surplus in services (from EUR 42.2 billion to EUR 27.6 billion).

Financial account

In the non-seasonally adjusted financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net inflows in October 2009 (EUR 18 billion), as the net inflows recorded in portfolio investment (EUR 19 billion) exceeded the net outflows in direct investment (EUR 2 billion).

The net outflows in direct investment resulted from net outflows in equity capital and reinvested earnings (EUR 8 billion), which were partly offset by net inflows in other capital (mostly inter-company loans) (EUR 6 billion).

The net inflows in portfolio investment were accounted for by net inflows in bonds and notes (EUR 28 billion) and in money market instruments (EUR 21 billion), which were to a limited extent counterbalanced by net outflows in equity (EUR 29 billion). The developments in portfolio investment mainly concerned euro area securities, non-residents having made net purchases of debt securities (EUR 55 billion) and net sales of equity (EUR 21 billion).

Financial derivatives recorded net inflows of EUR 1 billion.

Other investment recorded net outflows of EUR 4 billion, reflecting net outflows for the Eurosystem (EUR 10 billion) and other sectors (EUR 4 billion), which were partly offset by net inflows for general government (EUR 6 billion) and MFIs excluding the Eurosystem (EUR 4 billion).

Reserve assets increased by EUR 1 billion (excluding valuation effects). The Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets stood at EUR 438 billion at the end of October 2009.

In the 12-month period to October 2009, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded cumulated net inflows of EUR 263 billion, compared with net inflows of EUR 174 billion in the preceding 12-month period. This increase was mainly the result of higher net inflows in portfolio investment (up from EUR 311 billion to EUR 395 billion), largely reflecting a shift in equity from net outflows (EUR 17 billion) to net inflows (EUR 57 billion).

Data revisions

In addition to the balance of payments for October 2009, this press release incorporates revisions for September 2009. Those revisions have not significantly altered the previously published results.

Additional information on the euro area balance of payments and international investment position

A complete set of updated euro area balance of payments and international investment position statistics is available in the “Statistics” section of the ECB’s website under the headings “Data services”/“Latest monetary, financial markets and balance of payments statistics”. These data, as well as historical euro area balance of payments time series, can be downloaded from the ECB’s Statistical Data Warehouse (SDW). Data up to October 2009 will also be published in the January 2010 issues of the ECB’s Monthly Bulletin and Statistics Pocket Book. Detailed methodological notes are available on the ECB’s website. The next press release on the euro area monthly balance of payments will be published on 26 January 2010.

Annexes

Table 1: Current account of the euro area – working day and seasonally adjusted data

Table 2: Monthly balance of payments of the euro area – non-seasonally adjusted data