Euro area quarterly balance of payments and international investment position: second quarter of 2024

Current account

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €381 billion (2.6% of euro area GDP) in the four quarters to the second quarter of 2024, following a €76 billion surplus (0.5% of GDP) a year earlier (Table 1). This development was mainly driven by a larger surplus for goods (from €72 billion to €358 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by widening surpluses for services (from €134 billion to €149 billion) and for primary income (from €34 billion to €37 billion). Moreover, the deficit for secondary income decreased slightly from €164 billion to €163 billion.

The estimates on goods trade broken down by product group show that, in the four quarters to the second quarter of 2024, the increase in the goods surplus was mainly due to a smaller deficit in energy products (from €454 billion to €275 billion). In addition, the surplus for machinery and manufactured products increased from €240 billion to €318 billion, while the balance for other products switched from a €28 billion deficit to a €2 billion surplus.