October 5, 2020
According to Eurostat’s recent report, the EU second quarter of 2020, seasonally adjusted current account balance recorded a €82.9 billion surplus, which is 2.7% of GDP. This represents an increase of €30 billion, from the first quarter surplus of €52.9 billion, which was 1.5% of the GDP. Also, €10.2 billion greater than 2019 second quarter current account surplus of €72.7 billion which was 2.1% of GDP.
Eurostat noted, “in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the first quarter of 2020, based on seasonally adjusted data, the surplus of the goods account decreased (+€48.9 bn compared to +€83.5 bn).” The statistical office also stated that, “the deficit of the services account moved to surplus (+€24.8 bn compared to -€5.8 bn), as did the deficit of the primary income account (+€24.8 bn compared to -€10.1 bn), while the deficit of the secondary income account grew (-€15.5 bn compared to -€14.7 bn). The deficit of the capital account increased (-€8.6 bn compared to -€4.1 bn)”
On the other hand, the non-seasonally adjusted data for the second quarter recorded external current account surpluses with the United Kingdom (+€35.6 billion), the USA (+€15.8 billion), Switzerland (+€15.5 billion), Russia (+€6.7 billion), Canada (+€6.2 billion), Hong Kong (+€4.4 billion) and Brazil (+€3.5 billion). Deficits were registered with China (-€29.0 billion), offshore financial centres (-€9.5 billion), Japan (-€0.5 billion), and India (-€0.2 billion).
As a result, EU recorded an increase of €27.6 billion in the second-quarter current account surplus, based on the non-seasonally adjusted data, which is due to a €176.0 billion increase in direct investment assets. Eurostat noted this resulted in, “the EU net recipient of direct investment from rest of the world in the second quarter of 2020 by €148.3 bn. Portfolio investment recorded a net outflow of €159.9 bn, while for other investments, there was a net inflow of €181.5 bn.”
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