# Euro area current account surplus narrowed to €265 billion over four quarters

> The ECB’s 2 October release put the euro area current account surplus at €265 billion, or 1.6% of GDP, over the four quarters to Q2 2026, down from €304 billion and 1.9% a year earlier. Net international investment assets stood at €1.94 trillion at Q2-end.

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- Publisher: Newsverum
- Section: Economy
- Published: 2026-10-04T14:04:24+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-07T05:57:34+03:00
- Event / data period: 2026-06
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The ECB reported a €265 billion euro area current account surplus over the four quarters to Q2 2026, equal to 1.6% of GDP. The comparable total a year earlier was €304 billion, or 1.9%. The goods surplus narrowed from €318 billion to €288 billion, while the secondary-income deficit widened from €172 billion to €199 billion; the services surplus remained €150 billion.

The ECB also estimated net international investment assets of €1.94 trillion at Q2-end, equivalent to 12.0% of GDP. By counterpart, the largest current account surplus was with the United Kingdom at €252 billion and the largest deficit with China at €184 billion. The release combines four-quarter moving sums and end-period stocks; these are not single-quarter flows and may be revised as data are updated.

## Data

### Euro area current account surplus narrowed to €265 billion over four quarters

Euro area balance of payments and investment position; four-quarter transaction sums and end-period stocks.

Methodology: Flow metrics are sums over the four quarters ending in Q2 2026; net position is a stock at end-June 2026. The published GDP ratio is a period share; the series may be revised.

| label | value | unit | period | basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current account surplus, four-quarter sum | 265 | billion EUR | 2026-06 | observed |
| Goods surplus | 288 | billion EUR | 2026-06 | observed |
| Services surplus | 150 | billion EUR | 2026-06 | observed |
| Current account surplus / GDP | 1.6 | percent | 2026-06 | observed |
| Net international investment assets, end-period | 1.94 | trillion EUR | 2026-06 | observed |

Sources: <https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/stats/bop/2026/html/ecb.bq261002~5e0dd6a1f4.en.html> · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/euro-area-quarterly-balance-payments-q2-2026-ecb/data/euro-area-quarterly-balance-payments-q2-2026-ecb-data?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/euro-area-quarterly-balance-payments-q2-2026-ecb/data/euro-area-quarterly-balance-payments-q2-2026-ecb-data?lang=en&format=csv)

## Sources

- [European Central Bank (ECB)](<https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/stats/bop/2026/html/ecb.bq261002~5e0dd6a1f4.en.html>) (Source checked: 2026-10-04; Published: 2026-10-02)

## Correction history

- 2026-10-07T00:56:50+03:00: German and Portuguese editions and translations of the data and correction explanations have been added to this article.
- 2026-10-07T05:57:34+03:00: Data classification corrected: measure identifiers and types now follow the dataset rules. No figure, unit or date changed.

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