19.02.201804:53:00UTC+00Eurozone Current Account Surplus Shrinks In December

The euro area current account surplus decreased at the end of the year, data from the European Central Bank showed Monday.

The current account surplus fell to a 6-month low of EUR 29.9 billion in December from EUR 35 billion in November.

The surplus on trade in goods rose to EUR 30.9 billion in December from EUR 30.4 billion in the previous month. Similarly, surplus on services climbed to EUR 7.3 billion from EUR 5.3 billion.

At the same time, primary income surplus shrank markedly to EUR 3.7 billion from EUR 12.6 billion. On the other side, the secondary income deficit narrowed from EUR 13.4 billion to EUR 12.0 billion.

In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment?recorded net disposals of assets of EUR 24 billion and of liabilities of EU 23 billion.

During the whole year 2017, the current account recorded a surplus of EUR 391.4 billion compared with one of EUR 367.6 billion in 2016.