2023.03.2210:36:00UTC+00Eurozone Current Account Surplus Grows To EUR 17 Bln

The euro area current account surplus grew at the start of the year, underpinned by an increase in the surplus on goods trade, the European Central Bank reported Wednesday.

The current account surplus rose to EUR 17 billion in January from EUR 13.0 billion in the previous month. The expected surplus was EUR 16.5 billion.

The surplus on goods trade advanced from EUR 6.0 billion in December to EUR 11.0 billion. A surplus of EUR 14 billion was recorded in services, but it declined from EUR 15 billion.

Similarly, primary income decreased to EUR 1.0 billion from EUR 5.0 billion. At the same time, the deficit on secondary income narrowed to EUR 9.0 billion from EUR 13.0 billion.

In the twelve months to January, the current account deficit was EUR 98.0 billion, or 0.7 percent of GDP. This was in contrast to the surplus of EUR 252 billion in the same period last year.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents' net sales of non-euro area equity amounted to ?210 billion in the 12 months to January 2023.