According to the report from European Central Bank, the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €26 billion in February 2021, decreasing by €9 billion from the previous month. Surpluses were recorded for goods (€32 billion) and services (€11 billion). These were partly offset by deficits for secondary income (€16 billion) and primary income (€2 billion).

In the 12 months to February 2021, the current account recorded a surplus of €259 billion (2.3% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €263 billion (2.2% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to February 2020. This decline was driven by a reduction in the surplus for primary income (down from €48 billion to €18 billion) and an increase in the deficit for secondary income (up from €151 billion to €167 billion). These developments were partly offset by larger surpluses for services (up from €36 billion to €58 billion) and for goods (up from €330 billion to €350 billion).

In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €804 billion and non-residents’ net sales of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €21 billion in 12 months to February 2021