Balance of Payments: June 2025
20/08/2025 - Press Releases
- In June 2025, the current account posted a deficit, compared with a surplus in the same month of 2024, owing to a worsening in the balance of goods, the primary and secondary income accounts, whereas the services balance registered a small improvement.
- In the first half of 2025, the current account deficit decreased year-on-year, due to an improvement in all sub-accounts – mainly in the balance of goods and, to a lesser extent, in the primary and secondary income accounts and the balance of services.
Current account
In June 2025, the current account recorded a deficit of €1.2 billion, compared with a surplus in the corresponding month of 2024.
The goods deficit widened, as exports decreased and imports increased. At current prices, exports of goods fell by 7.7% (‑2.1% at constant prices), while imports of goods increased by 5.5% (8.4% at constant prices). In particular, non-oil goods exports at current prices grew by 2.6% (5.8% at constant prices) and the corresponding imports increased by 9.5% (8.8% at constant prices).
The services surplus rose due to an improvement primarily in the travel balance and, to a lesser extent, the other services balance, whereas the transport balance deteriorated. Compared with June 2024, the number of non-residents’ arrivals fell by 1.7%, while the relevant receipts rose by 8.8%.
The primary income deficit widened year-on-year mainly as a result of a drop in net receipts under other primary income and, to a lesser extent, a rise in net interest, dividend and profit payments. The secondary income deficit more than doubled compared with June 2024, due to higher general government net payments.
In the first half of 2025, the current account deficit decreased by €692.7 million year-on-year to stand at €7.6 billion.
The goods deficit decreased as imports fell more than exports in absolute terms. At current prices, the exports of goods decreased by 4.8% (+0.3% at constant prices) and the imports of goods decreased by 3.8% (-2.3% at constant prices). In particular, non-oil goods exports at current prices increased by 4.3% and the corresponding imports by 3.7% (6.6% and 2.8% at constant prices, respectively).
The services surplus increased slightly, mainly reflecting an improvement in the balance of travel services and, to a lesser extent, the other services balance, which was largely offset by a deterioration in the transport balance. Compared with the first half of 2024, the number of non-residents’ arrivals edged up by 0.6% and the relevant receipts grew by 11.0%.
The primary income deficit declined year-on-year, mostly on account of higher net receipts under other primary income. The secondary income surplus grew compared with the corresponding 2024 period, due to a fall in general government net payments, which was partly offset by weaker net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Capital account
In June 2025, the capital account registered a deficit of €19.4 million, compared with a surplus in the same month of 2024, due to the recording of net payments, instead of net receipts, in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
In the first half of 2025, the capital account registered a surplus of €1.2 billion, compared with a deficit in the corresponding 2024 period, as a result of an increase in general government net receipts and a decrease in net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Combined current and capital account
In June 2025, the combined current and capital account (corresponding to the economy’s external financing requirements) recorded a deficit of €1.2 billion, against a surplus in the same month a year earlier.
In the first half of 2025, the deficit of the combined current and capital account decreased year-on-year to stand at €6.4 billion.
Financial account
In June 2025, direct investment saw net flows of €298.7 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €729.1 million under residents’ external liabilities.
Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets was mainly attributable to a rise of €656.0 million in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills and, to a lesser extent, to a €231.4 million increase in their holdings of foreign equities. An increase in their liabilities was chiefly associated with a €1.6 billion rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills.
Under other investment, a drop in residents’ external assets was mainly due to a €808.7 million decline in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad and, to a lesser extent, to a €272.5 million decrease in loans extended to non-residents by domestic financial institutions, both of which were partly offset by a €322.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes. A fall in residents’ liabilities was driven primarily by a €1.7 billion drop in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included), which was somewhat offset by the €322.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
In the first half of 2025, direct investment showed a €2.0 billion net flow under residents’ external assets and a €2.8 billion net flow under residents’ external liabilities, representing non-residents’ direct investment in Greece.
Under portfolio investment, a decrease in residents’ external assets was mainly due to a €2.0 billion drop in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills, which was largely offset by a €1.5 billion rise in residents’ holdings of foreign equities. A rise in their liabilities was mostly driven by increases in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills (up by a €7.5 billion) and Greek equities (up by €1.4 billion).
Under other investment, an increase in residents’ external assets mainly reflects a €2.9 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes and, to a lesser extent, a €189.5 million rise in loans extended to non-residents, which was partly offset by a €281.6 million drop in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad. A decrease in residents’ liabilities was associated with a €4.9 billion fall in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included), which was partly offset by the €2.9 billion statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
At end-June 2025, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €15.3 billion, against €13.3 billion at end-June 2024.
Note: Balance of Payments data for July 2025 will be released on 19 September 2025.