According to the report from European Central Bank, the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €27 billion in October 2020, increasing by €2 billion from the previous month. Surpluses were recorded for goods (€35 billion) and services (€9 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€12 billion) and primary income (€5 billion).

In the 12 months to October 2020, the current account recorded a surplus of €228 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €272 billion (2.3% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to October 2019. This decline was driven by reductions in the surpluses for services (down from €69 billion to €27 billion) and for primary income (down from €55 billion to €16 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €311 billion to €331 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €163 billion to €146 billion).

In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €473 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €344 billion in 12 months to October 2020