Euro area monthly balance of payments: December 2025

19 February 2026

• Current account recorded €15 billion surplus in December 2025, up from €9 billion in previous month
• Current account surplus amounted to €255 billion (1.6% of euro area GDP) in 2025, down from €407 billion (2.7%) in 2024
• In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €767 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €838 billion in 2025

Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €15 billion in December 2025, an increase of €6 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€20 billion) and services (€14 billion). Deficits were recorded for secondary income (€16 billion) and primary income (€ 4 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

In 2025, the current account recorded a surplus of €255 billion (1.6% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €407 billion (2.7% of euro area GDP) in 2024. This decrease was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (€41 billion) to a deficit (€62 billion) for primary income, by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from €178 billion to €135 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €173 billion to €186 billion). These developments were partly offset by a larger surplus for goods (up from €361 billion to €369 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €178 billion in non-euro area assets in 2025, increasing from net investments of €151 billion in 2024 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €5 billion in net terms from euro area assets in 2025, following net disinvestments of €40 billion in 2024.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity decreased to €169 billion in 2025, down from €254 billion in 2024. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €598 billion, up from €552 billion in 2024. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €448 billion in 2025, up from €405 billion in 2024. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €389 billion, declining from €443 billion in 2024.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €671 billion in 2025 (increasing from €269 billion in 2024), while they recorded net incurrences of liabilities of €572 billion, following net disposals of €30 billion in 2024.

Chart 3

Monetary presentation of the balance of payments

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €211 billion in 2025. This increase was driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment equity and other investment. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment, portfolio investment debt and other flows.

In December 2025 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,776.1 billion up from €1,754.6 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven by positive price changes (€20.2 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€ 6.3 billion). These developments were partly offset by negative exchange rate changes (€ 3.7 billion).

Table 3

Reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for October and November 2025. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:

• Monthly balance of payments: 20 March 2026 (reference data up to January 2026 with, for the first time, time series for the balance of payments of the enlarged euro area, following Bulgaria adoption of the euro on 1 January 2026)
• Quarterly balance of payments: 9 April 2026 (reference data up to the fourth quarter of 2025)

For media queries, please contact Benoit Deeg, tel.: +49 172 1683704.

Notes

• Current account data are always seasonally and working day-adjusted, unless otherwise indicated, whereas capital and financial account data are neither seasonally nor working day-adjusted.
• Hyperlinks in this press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.