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• Ìýrecorded €0.4 billion deficit in October 2022, narrowing from €8 billion in previous month
• Ìýrecorded deficit of €59 billion (0.5% of euro area GDP) in 12 months to October 2022, after surplus of €318 billion (2.6%) one year earlier
• ±õ²ÔÌý, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €222 billion and non-residents’ net sales of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €15 billion in 12 months to October 2022

°Õ³ó±ðÌýcurrent accountÌýdeficit of the euro area amounted to €0.4 billion in October 2022, narrowing by €8 billion compared with the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Deficits were recorded forÌýsecondary incomeÌý(€12 billion) andÌýgoodsÌý(€3 billion). These were almost offset by surpluses forÌýservicesÌý(€13 billion) andÌýprimary incomeÌý(€2 billion).

In the 12 months to October 2022, theÌýcurrent accountÌýrecorded a deficit of €59 billion (0.5% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €318 billion (2.6% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to October 2021. This change in the balance was largely driven by a switch from a surplus (€339 billion) to a deficit (€56 billion) forÌýgoodsÌýand, to a lesser extent, by a reduction in the surplus forÌýprimary incomeÌý(down from €65 billion to €20 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus forÌýservicesÌý(up from €80 billion to €137 billion) and a slightly lower deficit forÌýsecondary incomeÌý(down from €166 billion to €160 billion).

±õ²ÔÌýdirect investment, euro area residents made net investments of €179 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12-month period to October 2022, following net investments of €114 billion in the 12 months to October 2021 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €66 billion in net terms from euro area assets in the 12-month period to October 2022, following net disinvestments of €12 billion in the 12 months to October 2021.

±õ²ÔÌýportfolio investment, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro areaÌýequityÌýamounted to €181 billion in the 12 months to October 2022, following net purchases of €496 billion in the 12 months to October 2021. Over the same period, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro areaÌýdebt securitiesÌýamounted to €41 billion, following net purchases of €474 billion in the 12 months to October 2021. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro areaÌýequityÌýdecreased to €131 billion in the 12-month period to October 2022, down from €530 billion in the 12 months to October 2021. Over the same period, non-residents made net sales of euro areaÌýdebt securitiesÌýamounting to €147 billion, decreasing from €300 billion in the 12 months to October 2021.

InÌýother investment, euro area residents increased the net acquisitions of non-euro area assets to €266 billion in the 12 months to October 2022 (up from €229 billion in the 12 months to October 2021), while their net incurrence of liabilities decreased to €345 billion (down from €849 billion in the 12 months to October 2021).

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that theÌýnet external assets (enhanced)Ìýof euro area MFIs decreased by €124 billion in the 12-month period to October 2022. This decrease was driven by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows inÌýdirect investment,Ìýother investmentÌýandÌýotherÌýflows. These developments were partly offset by theÌýcurrent and capital accountsÌýsurplus and by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows inÌýportfolio investment equityÌýand, to a lesser extent, inÌýportfolio investment debt.

In October 2022 the Eurosystem’s stock ofÌýreserve assetsÌýdecreased to €1,111.9 billion, down from €1,135.8 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This decrease was mainly driven by negative gold price changes (€19.0 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by negative exchange rate changes (€8.1 billion) which were partly offset by net acquisition of assets (€3.8 billion).