Euro area monthly balance of payments : March 2024

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €36 billion in March 2024, an increase of €7 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€33 billion), primary income (€ 9 billion) and services (€ 5 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€11 billion).

In the 12 months to March 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €310 billion (2.1% of euro area GDP), compared with a deficit of €76 billion (0.6% of euro area GDP) one year earlier. This development was mainly driven by a switch from a deficit (€34 billion) to a surplus (€316 billion) for goods and, to a lesser extent, by a switch from a deficit (€4 billion) to a surplus (€35 billion) for primary income, as well as by a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €165 billion to €157 billion). These developments were partly offset by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €127 billion to €116 billion).