Balance of Payments: December 2025
20/02/2026 - Press Releases
- In December 2025, the current account deficit increased year-on-year, due to a deterioration chiefly in the balance of goods and, to a lesser extent, in the secondary income account and in the balance of services, while the primary income account improved.
- In 2025, the current account deficit shrank year-on-year, reflecting improvements in all sub-accounts and mainly in the balance of goods.
Current account
In December 2025, the current account deficit increased by €129.2 million year-on-year and stood at €3.9 billion. The balance of goods and services also deteriorated.
The goods deficit widened, as imports increased more than exports. At current prices, exports of goods rose by 2.6% (7.1% at constant prices), while imports of goods increased by 6.6% (10.6% at constant prices). Non-oil exports of goods at current prices rose by 3.8% (2.1% at constant prices), while the corresponding imports increased by 15.9% (15.0% at constant prices).
The surplus of the services balance shrank, due to a deterioration in the transport balance and in the other services balance, which was partly offset by an improvement in the travel balance. Compared with December 2024, non-residents’ arrivals rose by 49.0% and the relevant receipts grew by 33.0%.
The deficit of the primary income account was almost halved year-on-year, reflecting lower net interest, dividend and profit payments, which were partly offset by a decrease in net receipts from other primary income. The secondary income account deficit grew compared with December 2024, owing to a shift from net receipts to net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government and, to a lesser extent, higher general government net payments.
In 2025, the current account deficit decreased by €2.8 billion year-on-year to stand at €14.1 billion. The deficit of the balance of goods and services also improved.
The goods deficit shrank, reflecting a larger drop in imports than exports. At current prices, exports of goods decreased by 2.5% (up by 1.9% at constant prices) and imports of goods fell by 3.6% (-2.0% at constant prices). At current prices, non-oil exports of goods increased by 2.5%, as did the corresponding imports, by 3.0% (4.7% and 2.4% at constant prices, respectively).
The services surplus widened on account of an improvement in the travel balance, despite a deterioration in the transport and the other services balances. Non-residents’ arrivals increased by 5.6% year-on-year and the relevant receipts rose by 9.4%.
The primary income account deficit fell year-on-year, mainly as a result of lower net interest, dividend and profit payments. The secondary income surplus grew year-on-year, due to a fall in general government net payments, which was largely offset by weaker net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Capital account
In December 2025, the capital account surplus rose slightly year-on-year.
In 2025, the capital account recorded a surplus of €1.7 billion, against a small deficit in 2024, on account of significantly higher general government net receipts.
Combined current and capital account
In December 2025, the deficit of the combined current and capital account (corresponding to the economy’s external financing requirements) increased year-on-year and stood at €3.8 billion.
In 2025, the deficit of the combined current and capital account contracted year-on-year and stood at €12.4 billion.
Financial account
In December 2025, direct investment saw net flows of €314.3 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €731.9 million under residents’ external liabilities.
Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets is attributable principally to a rise of €580.0 million in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills and, to a lesser extent, an increase of €138.5 million in their holdings of foreign equities. An increase in their liabilities is chiefly due to a €780.0 million rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills.
Under other investment, residents’ external assets increased, mainly as a result of a €448.2 million rise in loans extended to non-residents by domestic financial institutions and, to a lesser extent, of a €290.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes, as well as a €208.0 million increase in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. The increase in residents’ external liabilities reflects a rise of €8.9 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and, to a lesser extent, the aforementioned €290.0 million statistical adjustment, which were partly offset by a decline of €5.5 billion in the outstanding debt to non-residents (the early repayment of the loans under the Greek Loan Facility (GLF) included).
In 2025, direct investment showed a €5.3 billion net flow under residents’ external assets and a €12.0 billion net flow under residents’ external liabilities, representing non-residents’ direct investment in Greece.
Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets is attributable to a €5.6 billion rise in residents’ holdings of foreign equities, which was offset by a €3.4 billion fall in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. The rise in residents’ external liabilities is almost exclusively due to an increase of €14.5 billion in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills.
Under other investment, a rise in residents’ external assets was mainly due to a €6.5 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes and, to a lesser extent, a €2.6 billion rise in loans extended to non-residents, which were partly offset by a €427.3 million drop in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. An increase in residents’ external liabilities was mainly related with the aforementioned €6.5 billion statistical adjustment, and, to a lesser extent, with a €1.9 billion rise in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included), which were largely offset by a decline of €7.2 billion in residents’ outstanding debt to non-residents.
At end-December 2025, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €20.3 billion, compared with €14.6 billion at end-December 2024.
Note: Balance of payments statistics for January 2026 will be released on 23 March 2026.