Unexpectedly large fall in Eurozone current account not enough to hinder annual goods surplus growth
The Eurozone current account surplus dropped unexepctedly in June, but continues to show strong growth on an annual basis thanks largely to the goods surplus.
The European Central Bank posted a current account surplus of €16.9bn (£14.4bn) in June, seasonally adjusted. This was down from May’s €19.5bn surplus, and missed analyst forecasts of €19.0bn.
The current account measures the net flow of current transactions (including goods, services and interest payments), in and out of the Eurozone. Surpluses were measured in goods (€11.8bn), services (€8.7bn) and income (€6.4bn), partially offset by a deficit in current transfers (€10.1bn).
Non-seasonally adjusted, June’s current account surplus was €26.1bn, up from €9.3bn the month before.
For the period ending June 2013, the seasonally adjusted surplus was €196.1bn (2.1 per cent of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €66.1bn (0.7 per cent of euro area GDP) the year before.
This was primarily driven by an increase in the goods surplus to €152.7bn from €53.3bn. The income and services surpluses also increased, while the current transfers deficit remained broadly unchanged.