Euro area monthly balance of payments: August 2026

Official release

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €9 billion in August 2026, a decrease of €18 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€18 billion) and services (€13 billion). These were partly offset by deficits for secondary income (€18 billion) and primary income (€4 billion).

In the 12 months to August 2026, the current account recorded a surplus of €250 billion (1.5% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €290 billion (1.8% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This decrease was mainly driven by a reduction in the surplus for goods (down from €320 billion to €290 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €179 billion to €207 billion). These developments were partly offset by larger surpluses for services (up from €140 billion to €153 billion) and primary income (up from €9 billion to €14 billion).

In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €424 billion in non-euro area assets in the 12 months to August 2026, up from €211 billion one year earlier (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents invested €89 billion in net terms in euro area assets in the 12 months to August 2026, down from €122 billion one year earlier.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents' net purchases of non-euro area equity decreased to €218 billion in the 12 months to August 2026, down from €296 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents decreased to €580 billion, down from €634 billion one year earlier. Non-residents' net purchases of euro area equity increased to €446 billion in the 12 months to August 2026, up from €419 billion one year earlier. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €659 billion, up from €412 billion one year earlier.

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €804 billion in the 12 months to August 2026 (up from €584 billion one year earlier), while their net incurrence of liabilities increased to €565 billion (up from €449 billion one year earlier).

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €260 billion in the 12 months to August 2026. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs' net inflows in portfolio investment equity, other investment and portfolio investment debt. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs' net outflows in direct investment.

In August 2026, the Eurosystem's stock of reserve assets increased to €1,858.8 billion, up from €1,752.5 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was mainly driven by positive price changes (€108.2 billion), explained by an increase in the price of monetary gold, and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€1.1 billion), which were partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€3.0 billion).

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for July 2026. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

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Source: European Central Bank ↗