Data from the European Central Bank showed that in December, the eurozone's current account surplus (seasonally adjusted) increased to 15.9 billion euros from 13 billion euros in November (revised from 13.55 billion euros). Economists had expected the surplus to fall to 5.1 billion euros. Surpluses were recorded for services (14 billion euros), goods (8 billion euros) and primary income (7 billion euros). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (13 billion euros).
Without seasonal adjustments, the current account surplus widened to 28.9 billion euros in December from 12.72 billion euros in November (revised from 13.41 billion euros. It was the largest surplus since September 2021.
Considering 2022 full year, the current account deficit amounted to 106 billion euros (0.8% of eurozone GDP) compared with a surplus of 282 billion euros (2.3% of GDP) in 2021. This change was largely driven by a switch from a surplus (287 billion euros) to a deficit (60 billion euros) for goods and, to a lesser extent, by a reduction in the surplus for primary income (down from 63 billion euros to 7 billion euros) and a slightly larger deficit for secondary income (up from 160 billion euros to 166 billion euros).
In financial account, euro area residents’ net sales of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled 244 billion euros and non-residents’ net sales of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled 2 billion euros in 2022