Statistical Press Release – Balance of payments - December 2019
Up to December 2019 the combined current and capital account balance stood at €1,871 million, compared with €2,832 million in the same period in 2018 (Chart 1).
This decline in the balance was due to balance of goods and primary income account (Chart 2).
The goods account deficit increased by €819 million and the services account surplus increased by €144 million year on year (Chart 3).
During 2019, exports of goods and services grew by 4.4% (3.5% in goods and 5.9% in services) and imports rose by 5.2% (3.9% in goods and 11.4% in services).
The primary account deficit increased by €337 million compared to the same period one year earlier, to -€5,211 million. This was mainly due to a decrease in the balance of investment income.
In 2019 the financial account balance saw a €2,394 million increase in net foreign assets in Portugal (Chart 4). Investment by the financial sector, excluding the Central Bank, in public debt issued by countries in the Monetary Union made an important contribution to this result. In contrast, the evolution of investment of non-residents in resident non-financial corporations should be highlighted.
Next update: 18 Mar. 2020
