According to the report from European Central Bank, the current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €18 billion in March 2021, a decrease of €8 billion from the previous month. Surpluses were recorded for goods (€24 billion) and services (€8 billion). These were partly offset by deficits for secondary income (€12 billion) and primary income (€2 billion).

In the 12 months to March 2021, the current account recorded a surplus of €267 billion (2.4% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €247 billion (2.1% of euro area GDP) in the 12 months to March 2020. This increase reflected a larger surplus in services (up from €20 billion to €75 billion) and, to a lesser extent, a larger surplus in goods (up from €334 billion to €344 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for primary income (down from €42 billion to €18 billion) and a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €149 billion to €169 billion).

In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of foreign portfolio investment securities totalled €1.1 trillion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €123 billion in 12 months to March 2021