The euro area current account recorded a surplus of €16 billion in April 2026, marking an increase from the €15 billion surplus observed in the previous month, according to data from the European Central Bank (ECB).

This monthly figure was supported by surpluses in goods and services, which reached €17 billion and €15 billion respectively.

These gains were partially offset by deficits in secondary income amounting to €16 billion and primary income totalling €1 billion.

Looking at the 12 months leading up to April 2026, the current account surplus amounted to €269 billion, or 1.7 per cent of the euro area GDP.

This represents a decline from the €351 billion surplus, or 2.3 per cent of GDP, recorded one year earlier.

The annual decrease was attributed to multiple factors, including a reduction in the surplus for goods from €354 billion to €317 billion and a shift from a surplus to a deficit in primary income.

Furthermore, the deficit for secondary income widened from €181 billion to €192 billion, while the surplus for services fell from €166 billion to €162 billion.

In the sphere of direct investment, residents of the euro area made net investments of €280 billion in non-euro area assets during the 12-month period.

This activity saw a significant increase compared to the €150 billion in net investments recorded during the previous year.

Conversely, non-residents invested €8 billion in net terms in euro area assets, a decline from the €43 billion figure seen 12 months prior.

Regarding portfolio investment, euro area residents saw their net purchases of non-euro area equity decrease to €218 billion, while net purchases of debt securities also fell to €576 billion.

Meanwhile, non-residents increased their net purchases of euro area equity to €477 billion and substantially raised their net purchases of euro area debt securities to €563 billion.

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments indicated that the net external assets of euro area monetary financial institutions (MFIs) rose by €228 billion over the year to April 2026.

This growth was primarily driven by the current and capital accounts surplus alongside net inflows in portfolio investment equity from non-MFIs.

These developments were balanced by net outflows in direct investment originating from euro area non-MFIs.

In April 2026, the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets fell to €1,888.0 billion from €1,908.1 billion in March.

This decline was largely due to negative price changes totalling €12.0 billion, which were primarily linked to the falling price of gold.

Additional pressures on the reserves included negative exchange rate changes of €5.0 billion and net asset sales amounting to €3.0 billion.