Data published by the European Central Bank (ECB) showed that in December, the current account surplus of the eurozone (seasonally adjusted) decreased to 22.6 billion euros compared to 23.6 billion. euro in November. The surplus of the services account was 18 billion euros, while the surplus of the goods account was 7 billion euros. Meanwhile, the surplus of the primary income account amounted to 7 billion euros, while the secondary income account showed a deficit of 14 billion euros.
The data also showed that for the whole of 2021, the current account surplus increased to 310 billion euros (2.6% of GDP) compared to 213 billion euros in 2020. The main factor of this increase was the growth of the surplus of the services account (+117 billion euros) and the primary income account (+21 billion euros). Meanwhile, the surplus of the goods account decreased by 44 billion euros, and the deficit of the secondary income account decreased by 1 billion euros.
As for direct investments, in 2021 euro area residents made net investments of €107 billion in non-euro area assets. In 2020, a reduction by 15 billion euros was recorded. Non-residents withdrew 168 billion euros in net terms from eurozone assets in 2021 after net acquisitions of 160 billion euros in 2020.