- Ìýrecorded €37 billion surplus in December 2020, up from €25 billion in previous month
- Ìýsurplus amounted to €248 billion (2.2% of euro area GDP) in 2020, down from €281 billion (2.3%) in 2019
- ±õ²ÔÌý, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €644 billion in 2020 and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €164 billion
°Õ³ó±ðÌýcurrent accountÌýof the euro area recorded a surplus of €37 billion in December 2020, increasing by €12 billion from the previous month (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded forÌýgoodsÌý(€38 billion),ÌýservicesÌý(€11 billion) andÌýprimary incomeÌý(€1 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit forÌýsecondary incomeÌý(€14 billion).
In 2020 theÌýcurrent accountÌýrecorded a surplus of €248 billion (2.2% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €281 billion (2.3% of euro area GDP) in 2019. This decline was driven by reductions in the surpluses forÌýservicesÌý(down from €59 billion to €36 billion) andÌýprimary incomeÌý(down from €45 billion to €28 billion), but also by a larger deficit forÌýsecondary incomeÌý(up from €152 billion to €159 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus forÌýgoodsÌý(up from €328 billion to €343 billion).
±õ²ÔÌýdirect investment, euro area residents made net investments of €46 billion in non-euro area assets in 2020, following net investments of €25 billion in 2019 (see Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents made net investments in euro area assets of €166 billion in 2020, after net investments of €97 billion in 2019.
±õ²ÔÌýportfolio investment, net purchases of foreignÌýdebt securitiesÌýby euro area residents increased to €436 billion in 2020, from €367 billion in 2019. Similarly, net purchases of foreignÌýequityÌýincreased to €207 billion, from €69 billion in 2019. Over the same period, non-residents’ net purchases of euro areaÌýdebt securitiesÌýdecreased to €47 billion from €227 billion in 2019. Likewise, non-residents’ net purchases of euro areaÌýequityÌýdecreased to €117 billion from €256 billion in 2019.
InÌýother investment, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign assets increased to €381 billion in 2020 from €239 billion in 2019, while their net incurrence of liabilities was €466 billion (following net disposals of €93 billion in 2019).
The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (see Chart 3) shows thatÌýthe net external assets (enhanced)Ìýof euro area MFIs increased by €16 billion in 2020. This increase was driven by theÌýcurrent and capital accountsÌýsurplus, euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows inÌýdirect investmentÌýand, to a lesser extent, euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows inÌýother flows. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows inÌýportfolio investment (equityÌýandÌýdebt securities)Ìýand inÌýother investment.
In December 2020 the Eurosystem’s stock ofÌýreserve assetsÌýincreased to €878.7 billion, from €859.4 billion in the previous month (see Table 3). This increase was mostly driven by positive gold price changes (€23.0 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€1.7 billion). The increase was only partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€5.2 billion).
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