Statistical Press Release – Balance of payments - January 2021
Today, Banco de Portugal publishes, in BPstat, the statistics on balance of payments for January 2021.
In January 2021 the combined current and capital account balance stood at €17 million, compared with €114 million in the same period in 2020 (Chart 1).
The observed surpluses in services, secondary income and capital accounts surpassed the deficits in goods and primary income accounts (Chart 2).
The goods and services account deficit increased given that the reduction in the goods account deficit compared to the same year, of €558 million, was more than offset by the decrease in the services account surplus by €614 million. Of this latter amount, €467 million resulted from the ‘Travel’ item (Chart 3).
In January, exports of goods and services decreased by 20.9% (9.3% in goods and 44.1% in services) and imports fell by 19.5% (16.3% in goods and 33% in services).
The primary income account deficit decreased by €132 million compared to the same period, to €56 million. This reduction in the deficit was predominantly justified by an increase in income received from abroad. In turn, the secondary income account surplus decreased by €217 million, to €53 million, mainly due to lower other current transfers received.
In January, the financial account balance saw a €260 million decrease in net foreign assets in Portugal (Chart 4). This was mostly due to an increase in liabilities, particularly the investment of non-residents in Portuguese public debt securities. In contrast, there was an increase in assets due to the deposits of resident banks abroad.
Next update: 21 Apr. 2021
