Current Account s.a

The EU Current Account (s.a.), published by Eurostat, the EU statistical office, is the broad balance of EU trade and income with non-EU residents. Seasonally adjusted means regular seasonal, calendar and working-day effects are removed for quarter to quarter comparison. It covers extra-EU transactions only for the total economy plus EU institutions such as the Commission, under BPM6, the IMF balance of payments manual.

It is not national balances added up, and not the euro area total. It also excludes capital transfers and financial-account flows. A positive balance is a surplus and a negative one a deficit.

Member States transmit data 44 days after month end and 82 to 85 days after quarter end. Monthly data appear in the database 51 days after month end. The 1st quarterly estimate comes 7 weeks after quarter end, and the full dataset follows 3 months plus 1 week after. Release times use Luxembourg time, with no fixed hour.

Each release shows credit, debit and balance for every part, plus the share of gross domestic product (GDP). It also shows capital-account, partner-country and national tables, plus a euro-area table sourced to the European Central Bank (ECB). Figures stay provisional and later quarters can revise up to 4 years back, with no limit in the 3rd quarter.

Four balances add up to the headline:

• Goods: general merchandise, non-monetary gold and merchanting resale margins, valued f.o.b., free on board, excluding freight and insurance.
• Services: manufacturing, maintenance, transport, travel, telecom, computer, financial and business services, including freight and insurance from goods.
• Primary income: pay for cross-border workers plus investment earnings such as interest, dividends and reinvested profits, plus rent and production taxes.
• Secondary income: one-way current transfers, such as government aid and worker remittances, usually a persistent EU deficit item.

In Q2 2022 the EU posted a 37.4 bn euro deficit, 1.0% of GDP. That was down from an 8.8 bn surplus in Q1 2022 and a 104.8 bn surplus a year earlier.

Goods drove the fall with a 62.4 bn deficit, up from 21.7 bn in Q1. Surging energy import values lifted goods debits, while services kept a 43.4 bn surplus. Primary income fell to a 0.5 bn surplus.

Secondary income held an 18.9 bn deficit, while the capital account swung to a 112.1 bn surplus. By partner, deficits reached 50.8 bn with China and 33.4 bn with Russia, while the euro area also posted a deficit.

1. Reporting: Each country reports inflows and outflows with non-EU residents when ownership changes, at market prices.
2. Consolidation: Eurostat adds only extra-EU deals plus EU institutions and drops trade between EU members.
3. Balances: Each part equals credit minus debit; for Q2 2022 goods minus 62.4 bn plus services 43.4 bn equaled minus 19.0 bn.
4. Headline: Add the 4 balances; primary income 0.5 bn gave minus 18.5 bn, then secondary income minus 18.9 bn gave minus 37.4 bn.
5. Cross-check: Total credit 1200.8 bn minus total debit 1238.2 bn also equaled minus 37.4 bn, or 1.0% of GDP.
6. Adjustment: Headline and capital items use calendar and seasonal adjustment by direct approach on EU totals; the three accounts should sum to zero in theory.