Balance of payments and international investment position

This section shows the monthly and quarterly balance of payments (b.o.p.) and quarterly international investment position (i.i.p.).

The b.o.p. is a statistical statement that summarises, for a specific period of time, the economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the world. The transactions considered are:

• those involving goods, services and income
• those involving financial claims on, and liabilities to, the rest of the world
• those that are classified as transfers (such as debt forgiveness)

The i.i.p. is a statistical statement that shows, at a specific point in time, the value and composition of:

• financial assets of residents of an economy that are claims on non-residents and gold bullion held as reserve assets
• liabilities of residents of an economy to non-residents

The current account and capital account main components are broken down by counterpart countries. Financial transactions and positions are presented by type of investment, resident and counterpart sector, type of instrument and country of residency of the counterpart. 

The dataset contains the balance of payments (b.o.p.) and the international investment position (i.i.p.) of the euro area compiled by the ECB, as well as European union aggregates compiled by Eurostat and individual EU country data. The b.o.p. is a statistical statement that summarises, for a specific period of time, the economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the world. The different accounts within the b.o.p. are distinguished according to the nature of the economic resources (e.g. goods, services, income or financial resources) provided and received. The i.i.p. is a statistical statement that shows, at a specific point in time, the value and composition of financial assets of residents of an economy that are claims on non-residents and gold bullion held as reserve assets and liabilities of residents of an economy to non-residents; The current account and capital account main components are broken down by counterpart countries. Financial transactions and positions are presented by type of investment, resident and counterpart sector, type of instrument and country of residency of the counterpart

Detailed documentation on b.o.p/i.i.p. can be found on the ECB website