Statistical Press Release – Balance of payments - October 2019
Up to October 2019 the combined current and capital account balance stood at €1,107 million, compared with €3,994 million in the same period in 2018 (Chart 1).
This decline in the balance was due to all components, excluding the primary income account (Chart 2).
The goods account deficit increased by €2,208 million and the services account surplus declined by €500 million year on year (Chart 3).
In the first ten months of the year, exports of goods and services grew by 2.8% (2.3% in goods and 3.8% in services) and imports rose by 6.7% (5.5% in goods and 11.9% in services).
The primary account deficit decreased by €215 million compared to the same period one year earlier, to -€3,787 million. This was mainly due to a decrease in interest paid to non-residents.
Up to October 2019 the financial account balance saw a €1,599 million increase in net foreign assets in Portugal (Chart 4). Both the investment by the financial sector, excluding the Central Bank, in public debt issued by countries in the Monetary Union and the early repayment of the loan granted under the Economic and Financial Assistance Programme made an important contribution to this result. In contrast, investment of non-residents in resident non-financial corporations and in Treasury bonds issued by Portugal was particularly noteworthy.
Next update: 21 Jan. 2020
