According to the report from European Central Bank, the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €25 billion in November 2020, decreasing by €1 billion from the previous month. Surpluses were recorded for goods (€34 billion), services (€9 billion) and primary income (€1 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€20 billion).

In the 12 months to November 2020, the current account recorded a surplus of €231 billion (2.0% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €278 billion (2.3% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to November 2019. This decline was driven by reductions in the surpluses for services (down from €65 billion to €26 billion) and for primary income (down from €53 billion to €24 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €320 billion to €335 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €159 billion to €155 billion).

In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €526 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €231 billion in 12 months to November 2020