Balance of Payments: September 2025
20/11/2025 - Press Releases
- In September 2025, the current account deficit decreased year-on-year, primarily due to an improvement in the balance of goods and, secondarily, the primary income account, which was mostly offset by a deterioration in the balance of services and, to a lesser extent, the secondary income account.
- In January-September 2025, the current account deficit decreased year-on-year, chiefly owing to an improvement in the balance of goods and the primary income account and, to a lesser extent, in the balance of services, while the secondary income account deteriorated.
Current account
In September 2025, the current account deficit contracted by €77.1 million year-on-year and stood at €408.8 million.
The goods deficit declined, as exports increased and imports decreased. At current prices, exports of goods rose by 2.6% (5.6% at constant prices), while imports of goods dropped by 4.0% (-4.1% at constant prices). Non-oil exports of goods at current prices fell by 1.0% (+2.6% at constant prices), while the corresponding imports increased by 3.8% (3.5% at constant prices).
The surplus of the services balance contracted, due to a deterioration in all its components, mainly the travel balance. Compared with September 2024, non-residents’ arrivals grew by 3.6%, while the relevant receipts fell by 3.6%.
The deficit of the primary income account fell year-on-year, reflecting lower net interest, dividend and profit payments. The deficit of the secondary income account almost doubled year-on-year, owing to higher net payments in all sectors of the economy.
In January-September 2025, the current account deficit fell by €2.2 billion year-on-year to stand at €7.0 billion.
The goods deficit shrank, reflecting a larger drop in imports than in exports. At current prices, exports of goods decreased by 4.5% (+0.4% at constant prices) and imports of goods by 4.6% (-3.2% at constant prices). Non-oil exports and imports of goods at current prices rose by 2.9% (5.7% and 2.2% at constant prices, respectively).
The surplus of the services balance grew on account of an improvement in the travel balance, more than half of which was offset by a deterioration in the transport and the other services balances. Non-residents’ arrivals increased by 4.0% year-on-year and the relevant receipts rose by 9.0%.
The primary income account deficit fell year-on-year, mainly driven by lower net interest, dividend and profit payments. The secondary income account surplus decreased slightly year-on-year, as lower net receipts were recorded in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government, which were almost entirely offset by lower general government net payments.
Capital account
In September 2025, the capital account deficit shrank year-on-year to €8.1 million, reflecting lower net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
In January-September 2025, the capital account showed a surplus of €601.7 million, against a deficit in the same period of 2024, on account of higher general government net receipts.
Combined current and capital account
In September 2025, the deficit of the combined current and capital account (corresponding to the economy’s external financing requirements) fell year-on-year to €416.9 million.
In January-September 2025, the deficit of the combined current and capital account shrank year-on-year to €6.4 billion.
Financial account
In September 2025, direct investment saw net flows of €238.5 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €425.3 million under residents’ external liabilities.
Under portfolio investment, a decrease in residents’ external assets mainly reflected a €631.0 million drop in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills, which was partly offset by a €360.8 million rise in residents’ holdings of foreign equities. A rise in residents’ external liabilities is mainly due to a €793.0 million increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills, and, to a lesser extent, to a €190.0 million rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.
Under other investment, residents’ external assets increased because of a €715.2 million rise in loans extended to non-residents by domestic financial institutions and a €563.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes. A decline in residents’ external liabilities was mainly driven by a €611.0 million decrease in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and, to a lesser extent, a €108.8 million decline in the outstanding debt to non-residents, which were partly offset by a €563.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
In January-September 2025, direct investment showed a €2.6 billion net flow under residents’ external assets and a €8.6 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 €4.8 billion rise in residents’ holdings of foreign equities, which was offset for the most part by a €3.3 billion fall in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. A rise in residents’ external liabilities is mainly due to a €9.2 billion increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills.
Under other investment, a rise in residents’ external assets was mainly due to a €4.8 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes and, to a lesser extent, to a €1.2 billion rise in loans extended to non-residents, which were partly offset by a €533.6 million drop in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. A decrease in residents’ external liabilities was associated with a €6.5 billion decline in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included), which was mostly offset by a €4.8 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes.
At end-September 2025, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €18.8 billion, compared with €13.9 billion at end-September 2024.
Note: Balance of payments data for October 2025 will be released on 22 December 2025.