The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €30.8 billion in May 2016. This reflected surpluses for goods (€30.6 billion), services (€5.9 billion) and primary income (€3.2 billion), which were partly offset by a deficit in secondary income (€8.9 billion).

The 12-month cumulated current account for the period ending in May 2016 recorded a surplus of €347.1 billion (3.3% of euro area GDP), compared with one of €289.7 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP) for the 12 months to May 2015. This development was mostly due to an increase in the surplus for goods (from €294.7 billion to €365.0 billion) and, to a lesser extent, to a decrease in the deficit for secondary income (from €137.9 billion to €123.3 billion). These were partly offset by decreases in the surpluses for both services (from €66.8 billion to €61.5 billion) and primary income (from €66.1 billion to €43.8 billion).