According to the report from ECB, the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €20 billion in August 2020, increasing by €3 billion from the previous month. Surpluses were recorded for goods (€32 billion) and services (€2 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€11 billion) and primary income (€4 billion).

In the 12 months to August 2020, the current account recorded a surplus of €224 billion (1.9% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €265 billion (2.2% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to August 2019. This decline was driven by reductions in the surpluses for services (down from €68 billion to €25 billion) and for primary income (down from €67 billion to €24 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €294 billion to €323 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €164 billion to €148 billion).

In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €549 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €446 billion in 12 months to August 2020