Bank of Italy publishes March 2026 balance of payments and international investment position statistics with current account surplus at EUR 31.6 billion

The Bank of Italy has published updated balance of payments and international investment position statistics for March 2026. Over the twelve months ending in March 2026, Italy recorded a current account surplus of EUR 31.6 billion, equal to 1.4 per cent of GDP, up from EUR 19.0 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. Over the same period, the financial account recorded net acquisitions of foreign assets of EUR 34.7 billion, compared with EUR 40.7 billion a year earlier. The wider current account surplus was driven by primary income turning positive at EUR 3.7 billion from a EUR 4.4 billion deficit and by a larger goods surplus of EUR 53.0 billion from EUR 48.6 billion. The secondary income deficit narrowed slightly to EUR 18.8 billion, while the services deficit edged up to EUR 6.4 billion from EUR 6.1 billion. Within the financial account, direct investment contributed EUR 34.4 billion, other investment EUR 27.3 billion and reserve assets EUR 3.5 billion, partly offset by portfolio investment at minus EUR 28.9 billion and financial derivatives at minus EUR 1.6 billion. In March 2026 alone, residents' foreign assets rose by EUR 25.3 billion and foreign liabilities by EUR 28.8 billion, with the increase in liabilities mainly reflecting EUR 34.1 billion in other investment and partly offset by non-residents' net sales of Italian securities of EUR 5.5 billion, including EUR 8.8 billion of government securities.