The euro area current account surplus increased in December due to a sharp fall in the deficit on primary income, the European Central Bank reported Thursday.
The trade surplus rose to EUR 15 billion in December from EUR 9 billion in the previous month.
The surplus on goods trade fell to EUR 20 billion from EUR 24 billion a month ago. Meanwhile, the surplus on services trade rose to EUR 14 billion from EUR 12 billion.
The primary income showed a shortfall of EUR 4 billion, much smaller than the prior month's deficit of EUR 12 billion. On the other hand, the deficit on secondary income widened to EUR 16 billion from EUR 15 billion.
In 2025, the current account registered a surplus of EUR 255 billion or 1.6 percent of euro area GDP, compared with a surplus of EUR 407 billion or 2.7 percent of GDP in 2024.
Data showed that the decline in surplus in 2025 was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus to a deficit of EUR 62 billion for primary income, by a reduction in the surplus for services to EUR 135 billion and, to a lesser extent, by a larger deficit of EUR 186 billion for secondary income.
However, these developments were partly offset by a larger surplus of EUR 369 billion in goods trade.