Poland Has Third-Biggest Current Account Deficit

EU27 current account surplus € 28.8 bn. € 39.3bn surplus for trade in services.

The EU271 external current account recorded a surplus of 28.8 billion euro in the third quarter of 2012, compared with a deficit of 6.8 bn in the third quarter of 2011, according to a second estimate released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In the third quarter of 2012, compared with the third quarter of 2011, the deficit of the goods account decreased significantly (-2.6 bn euro compared with -34.6 bn) and the surplus of the services account rose (+39.3 bn compared with +31.1 bn). The surplus of the income account fell (+10.5 bn compared with +14.6 bn) and the deficit of the current transfers account increased (-18.3 bn compared with -17.9 bn).

The surplus recorded in the services account (+39.3 bn euro) was mainly the result of surpluses in "other business services", which includes miscellaneous business, professional and technical services (+15.3 bn), transportation (+7.6 bn), financial services (+7.4 bn), computer & information services (+6.2 bn), insurance services (+3.8 bn) and construction services (+2.7 bn), partly offset by a deficit in royalties & license fees (-2.0 bn).

In the third quarter of 2012, the EU27 external current account recorded a surplus with the USA (+34.1 bn euro), Switzerland (+15.1 bn), Hong Kong (+7.8 bn), Brazil (+7.4 bn), Canada (+5.0 bn) and India (+1.4 bn), and a deficit with China (-30.1 bn), Russia (-6.7 bn) and Japan (-5.4 bn).

Financial Account

In the third quarter of 2012, the EU27 made direct investments abroad of 55.3 bn euro, compared with 40.5 bn in the same quarter of 2011, while foreign direct investors made investments in the EU27 of 35.4 bn, compared with 34.3 bn in the same quarter of 2011. Portfolio investments recorded a net outflow of 126.0 bn, compared with a net inflow of 105.0 bn in the third quarter of 2011.

Current account of Member States (including intra-EU flows)

As concerns the total (intra-EU plus extra-EU) current account balances of the EU27 Member States, seventeen recorded surpluses, nine deficits and one was in balance in the third quarter of 2012. The highest surpluses were observed in Germany (+41.5 bn euro), the Netherlands (+12.6 bn), Sweden (+7.8 bn) and Denmark (+4.0 bn), and the largest deficits in the United Kingdom (-20.2 bn), France (-8.0 bn), Poland (-3.4 bn) and Belgium (-2.8 bn).