Eurozone current account deficit at $124.6B

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The current account balance of the euro area posted a deficit of €114 billion ($124.6 billion) in 12 months to February 2023, the official figures showed on Wednesday.

The current account balance posted a surplus of €222 billion in the same period one year earlier, the European Central Bank said.

"This change in the current account balance was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (€214 billion) to a deficit (€51 billion) for goods, a switch from a surplus (€57 billion) to a deficit (€20 billion) for primary income and, to a lesser extent, by a larger deficit for secondary income (up from €158 billion to €161 billion)," it noted.

The deficit is equal to 0.9% of the euro area's gross domestic product (GDP).

The balance also posted a surplus of €24 billion in February alone, up by €5 billion on a monthly basis.