Balance of Payments: June 2026
20/08/2026 - Press Releases
- In June 2025, the current account deficit decreased year on year, owing to improvements in the balance of goods and the primary income account, while the balance of services and the secondary income account deteriorated.
- In the first half of 2026, the current account deficit increased year on year, mainly due to a deterioration in the secondary income account and, to a lesser extent, in the primary income account, which was partly offset by improvements primarily in the goods balance and secondarily in the services balance.
Current account
In June 2026, the current account deficit almost halved year on year and stood at €602.8 million.
The goods deficit narrowed, as exports increased more than imports. At current prices, exports of goods rose by 27.5% (14.5% at constant prices), while imports of goods increased by 7.3% (1.9% at constant prices). In particular, non-oil goods exports at current prices grew by 22.3% (15.0% at constant prices) and the corresponding imports rose by 5.4% (3.7% at constant prices).
The services surplus recorded a slight decline, owing to a deterioration across all sub-balances, particularly the transport balance. Compared with June 2025, non-residents’ arrivals rose by 6.9% and the relevant receipts by 1.2%.
The primary income deficit decreased year on year mainly as a result of a drop in net interest, dividend and profit payments and, to a lesser extent, a more than twofold increase in net receipts from other primary income. The secondary income deficit increased year on year, due to higher net payments both in the general government sector and the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
In the first half of 2026, the current account deficit increased by roughly €1.0 billion year on year and stood at €9.5 billion.
The goods deficit narrowed, as exports grew more than imports. At current prices, the exports of goods increased by 16.1% (5.7% at constant prices) and the imports of goods by 4.5%
(-0.2% at constant prices). In particular, non-oil goods exports at current prices increased by 7.9% and the corresponding imports by 4.1% (3.6% and 2.9% at constant prices, respectively).
The services surplus widened, reflecting an improvement in the balance of travel services, which was largely offset by a deterioration mainly in the other services balance and, to a lesser extent, in the transport balance. Compared with the first half of 2025, non-residents’ arrivals rose by 15.4% and the relevant receipts grew by 14.8%.
The primary income deficit increased year on year, reflecting mostly the reduction by about half of net receipts under other primary income, which was partly offset by the decrease in net interest, dividend and profit payments. The secondary income balance recorded a deficit, compared with a surplus in the corresponding period of 2025, mainly due to lower net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government and, to a lesser extent, higher general government net payments.
Capital account
In June 2026, the capital account deficit increased slightly year on year and stood at €22.9 million, reflecting a small increase in net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
In the first half of 2026, the capital account surplus narrowed year on year owing to lower general government net receipts.
Combined current and capital account
In June 2026, the combined current and capital account deficit (which corresponds to the economy’s external financing needs) almost halved year on year and stood at €625.7 million.
In the first half of 2026, the combined current and capital account deficit increased year on year and stood at €9.2 billion.
Financial account
In June 2026, direct investment saw net flows of €220.2 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €778.1 million under residents’ external liabilities, representing non-residents’ direct investment in Greece.
Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets was mainly attributable to a rise of €207.8 million in their holdings of foreign equities and, to a lesser extent, a €157.0 million increase in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. An increase in their liabilities was chiefly associated with a €3.5 billion rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills.
Under other investment, a rise in residents’ external assets was mainly due to a €704.1 million increase in loans extended to non-residents by domestic financial institutions and by a €534.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes, which were partly offset by a €487.6 million reduction in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. A fall in residents’ liabilities was driven primarily by a €7.1 billion drop in loans granted to residents by non-residents (including the early repayment of loans under the Greek Loan Facility - GLF), which was offset to a degree by a €3.9 billion increase in non-residents’ deposits and repos in Greece (including balances in the TARGET account) and, secondarily, by a €534.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
In the first half of 2026, direct investment showed a €1.8 billion net flow under residents’ external assets and a €6.9 billion net flow under residents’ external liabilities.
Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets was mainly due to a €3.1 billion rise in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills and, to a lesser extent, to a €1.7 billion increase in residents’ holdings of foreign equities. A rise in their liabilities was mostly driven by a €9.1 billion increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills, as well as a €1.5 billion rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.
Under other investment, an increase in residents’ external assets mainly reflects a €2.9 billion rise in loans extended to non-residents and to a €2.4 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes, which were partly offset by a €658.5 million drop in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. An increase in residents’ liabilities was associated mainly with an €8.9 billion rise in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and, to a lesser extent, with a €2.4 billion statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes, which were largely offset by a €9.1 billion decrease in loans granted to residents by foreign financial institutions.
At end-June 2026, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €19.5 billion, against €15.3 billion at end-June 2025.
Note: Balance of Payments data for July 2026 will be released on 21 September 2026.