Eurozone current account surplus falls in November, missing consensus

The eurozone current account surplus shrank in November, on both a monthly and annual basis, the European Central Bank reported on Tuesday.

The euro area's current account recorded a EUR8.6 billion surplus in November, down from EUR26.7 billion in October and below the FXStreet-cited consensus of a decrease to EUR20.3 billion. The October surplus was revised upwards from EUR25.7 billion.

A EUR24 billion surplus for goods was reported for November, down from EUR33 billion in October. The services surplus decreased to EUR12 billion from EUR13 billion.

The deficit for primary income widened to EUR12 billion in November from EUR3 billion in October. The ECB also reported a deficit of EUR15 billion for secondary income, narrowed from EUR16 billion.

For the 12 months to November, the ECB reported a surplus of EUR267 billion, 1.7% of the euro area's gross domestic product. This was down from EUR414 billion, or 2.7% of GDP, in the prior year.

"This decrease was mainly driven by a switch from a surplus (EUR46 billion) to a deficit (EUR56 billion) for primary income and, to a lesser extent, by a reduction in the surplus for services (down from EUR173 billion to EUR137 billion) and a larger deficit for secondary income (up from EUR169 billion to EUR189 billion)," the ECB explained.