Eurozone current account surplus fell in March

According to the report from European Central Bank, the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €25 billion in March 2019, a decrease of €3 billion from the previous month (see Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€24 billion), services (€8 billion) and primary income (€4 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€11 billion).

In the 12 months to March 2019, the current account recorded a surplus of €328 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €376 billion (3.3% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to March 2018. This decline was driven mainly by smaller surpluses for goods (down from €325 billion to €276 billion) and services (down from €109 billion to €101 billion), and by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €143 billion to €156 billion). These developments were only partly offset by a larger surplus for primary income (up from €85 billion to €107 billion).

In the financial account, euro area residents made net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalling €45 billion in the 12-month period to March 2019 (decreasing from €671 billion in the 12 months to March 2018). Non-residents made net sales of euro area portfolio investment securities totalling €101 billion (in comparison with net purchases of €408 billion).