The EU28 seasonally adjusted current account of the balance of payments recorded a surplus of €69.4 billion (1.7% of GDP) in Q3 2019, up from a surplus of €43.5 billion (1.1% of GDP) in Q2 2019, and from a surplus of €42.0 billion (1.1% of GDP) in Q3 2018, according to Eurostat.
In the third quarter of 2019 compared with the second quarter of 2019, based on seasonally adjusted data, the surplus of the goods account increased (+€40.4 bn compared to +€28.5 bn), as did the surplus of the services account (+€49.9 bn compared to +€29.6 bn).
Surplus of the primary income account fell (+€1.4 bn compared to +€7.2 bn), while the deficit of the secondary income account grew (-€22.3 bn compared to -€21.8 bn).
The deficit of the capital account decreased (-€4.4 bn compared to -€19.0 bn).
Main partners
In the third quarter of 2019. based on non-seasonally adjusted data, the EU28 recorded external current account surpluses with the USA (+€71.2 bn), Switzerland (+€13.4 bn), offshore financial centres (+€10.0 bn), Canada (+€10.4 bn), Hong Kong (+€6.9 bn), Brazil (+€6.8 bn) and Japan (+€1.3 bn).
Deficits were registered with China (-€31.8 bn), Russia (-€2.7 bn) and India (-€1.6 bn).
Financial account
Based on non-seasonally adjusted data. direct investment assets of the EU28 increased in the third quarter of 2019 by €139.4 bn, while direct investment liabilities grew by €127.8 bn.
As a result, the EU28 was a net direct investor to rest of the world in the third quarter of 2019 by €11.6 bn.
Portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of €126.1 bn, while for other investment there was a net outflow of €73.9 bn.
Current account of Member States (including intra-EU flows)
As concerns the total (intra-EU plus extra-EU) current account balances of the EU28 Member States, based on available non-seasonally adjusted data, seventeen recorded surpluses, ten deficits and one was in balance in the third quarter of 2019.
The highest surpluses were observed in Germany (+€63.2 bn), the Netherlands
+€19.3 bn),
Italy (+€17.3 bn), Ireland (+€11.2 bn) and Denmark (+€8.3 bn), and the largest deficits in the United Kingdom (-€23.9 bn), France (-€4.1 bn) and Romania (-€3.6 bn).
The European Union (EU28) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The euro area (EA19) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
Offshore Financial Centres (OFC) is an aggregate which includes 40 countries.
As examples, the aggregate contains financial centres such as Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Andorra, Gibraltar, Panama, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines. ■
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