ECB Euro area balance of payments and International investment position

The current account of the euro area balance of payments recorded a deficit of EUR 25.4 billion in the second quarter of 2009. The largest bilateral deficits were with the group of “other countries” – i.e. countries outside the European Union (EU) other than Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the United States – with the United States and vis-à-vis Japan. By contrast, the largest surpluses were with the United Kingdom and the countries outside the euro area that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007.