Balance of Payments: October 2024
20/12/2024 - Press Releases
- In October 2024, the current account deficit decreased year-on-year, due to an improvement in the balance of services and the primary and secondary income accounts, which was partly offset by a deterioration in the balance of goods.
- In January-October 2024, the current account deficit widened year-on-year, owing to a worsening in the balance of goods and, to a lesser extent, in the primary income account, which was partly offset by an improvement mainly of the secondary income account, as well as of the balance of services.
Current account
In October 2024, the current account deficit decreased by €825.0 million year-on-year and stood at €383.2 million.
The goods deficit grew, reflecting a larger drop in exports than in imports. At current prices, goods exports dropped by 10.1% (-5.0% at constant prices) and goods imports decreased by 1.8% (up by 14.9% at constant prices). Non-oil goods exports at current prices grew by 3.8% (1.4% at constant prices) and the corresponding imports increased by 11.1% (13.0% at constant prices).
The surplus of the services balance widened, due to an improvement in, primarily, the travel balance and, secondarily, the other services balance, while the transport services balance deteriorated. Compared with October 2023, non-residents’ arrivals grew by 8.6% and the relevant receipts rose by 19.7%. The primary income account registered a surplus, compared with a deficit in the same month a year earlier, mainly on the back of net receipts, as against net payments, of interest, dividends and profits. The secondary income account recorded a surplus, against a deficit in the same month a year earlier, reflecting a shift from net payments to net receipts in the general government sector, following the disbursement of the fourth tranche in the form of grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
In January-October 2024, the current account deficit increased by €220.6 million year-on-year and stood at €8.0 billion.
The goods deficit grew, reflecting a drop in exports and a parallel increase in imports. At current prices, goods exports fell by 3.4% (‑3.4% at constant prices) and goods imports grew by 1.5% (4.2% at constant prices). Specifically, non-oil goods exports at current prices declined marginally (-0.2%), while the corresponding imports increased by 4.3% (-2.9% and 4.5% at constant prices, respectively).
The surplus of the services balance widened, chiefly as a result of an improvement in the travel balance and, to a lesser extent, in the other services balance, while the surplus of the transport balance decreased. Non-residents’ arrivals increased by 9.2% year-on-year and the relevant receipts rose by 5.5%.
The deficit of the primary income account grew year-on-year, owing to a decline in net receipts under other primary income. The surplus of the secondary income account more than doubled year-on-year, due to higher net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Capital account
In October 2024, the capital account registered a surplus of €530.8 million, against a deficit in October 2023, reflecting an increase in general government net receipts, mainly related to the inflow of RRF funds.
In January-October 2024, the capital account showed a deficit of €93.0 million, against a surplus in the corresponding period of 2023, chiefly as a result of a decrease in general government net receipts, as well as a shift from net receipts to net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Combined current and capital account
In October 2024, the combined current and capital account (corresponding to the economy’s external financing requirements) registered a surplus, against a deficit in the same month a year earlier, and stood at €147.7 million.
In January-October 2024, the deficit of the combined current and capital account widened by €2.3 billion year-on-year and stood at €8.1 billion.
Financial account
In October 2024, direct investment saw net flows of €63.5 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €82.8 million under residents’ external liabilities, without any notable transactions.
Under portfolio investment, a decrease in residents’ external assets is mainly due to a decline of €1.0 billion in their holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. A rise in their liabilities is chiefly due to an increase of €1.1 billion in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills and to a rise of €685.0 million in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.
Under other investment, residents’ external assets increased, due to a €669.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes and a €363.0 million rise in loans extended to non-residents, which was offset to a degree by a €739.6 million drop in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. A decline in their liabilities reflects mainly a decrease of €2.5 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and a decline of €283.2 million in the outstanding debt to non-residents, which was partly offset by a €669.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
In January-October 2024, direct investment showed a €1.5 billion net flow under residents’ external assets and a €3.2 billion net flow under residents’ external liabilities, representing non-residents’ direct investment in Greece.
Under portfolio investment, a rise in residents’ external assets is mostly attributable to an increase of €3.4 billion in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. A rise in their liabilities is chiefly due to a €8.6 billion increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills and, to a lesser extent, a €2.4 billion rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.
Under other investment, a drop in residents’ external assets is primarily due to a decline of €7.0 billion in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad, which was partly offset by a €3.1 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes and by a €1.6 billion rise in loans extended to non-residents. A decline in their liabilities reflects a drop of €5.4 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and a decrease of €1.9 billion in residents’ outstanding debt to non-residents, which was offset, to a degree, by a €3.1 billion statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
At end-October 2024, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €14.8 billion, compared with €12.3 billion at end-October 2023.
Note: Balance of payments statistics for November 2024 will be released on 20 January 2025.