The current account deficit rises to 1,200 million in the first quarter despite the improvement in tourism

MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The current account balance, which measures income and payments abroad for the exchange of goods, services, income and transfers, registered a deficit of 1,200 million euros in the first three months of the year, compared to a deficit of 400 million in the same period of 2021, despite the advance of the tourism surplus, according to data from the Bank of Spain published this Tuesday.

This result is a consequence of the fall in the surplus of the balance of goods and services, which registered until March a balance of 1,200 million euros, compared to 2,300 million a year earlier.

However, within the balance of goods and services, the tourism and travel heading presented a surplus of 7,900 million euros until March, well above the positive balance of 500 million euros in the same period of 2021.

On its side, the balance of primary and secondary income (income from work, investment, taxes on production and imports and subsidies) and secondary (personal transfers, current taxes, contributions and social benefits, etc.) moderated its deficit to 2,400 million euros, compared to the negative balance of 2,700 million euros in the first three months of 2021.

The balance of the capital account, for its part, increased its surplus until March to 2,400 million euros, compared to 1,100 million euros in the same period of the previous year.

Thus, the aggregate balance of the current and capital accounts, which determines the financing capacity or need of the Spanish economy, registered a surplus of 1,300 million euros until March, compared to 700 million euros in the same period of 2021.

The data corresponding only to the month of March show a current account surplus of 1,200 million euros, 100 million less than that registered in the same month of 2021. This fall is due to the fact that the balance of primary and secondary income registered a deficit of 400 million, compared to a surplus of 100 million a year earlier.

On its side, the balance of goods and services registered a positive balance of 1,600 million euros, 300 million more than in March 2021, due to the fact that the surplus of the tourism and travel heading increased to 3,300 million euros, in contrast to the positive balance of 200 million euros in the same month last year.

The capital account, for its part, presented a surplus of 1,300 million euros in March, almost double that in the same month of 2021.

With all this, the Spanish economy registered in the third month of the year a financing capacity of 2,500 million euros, in contrast to the 2,000 million euros that it presented in March 2021.

On the other hand, in the first three months of 2022, Spain registered capital outflows worth 13.2 billion euros, compared to the inflow of 23.4 billion a year earlier.

The outflow or inflow of capital is a balance that results from taking into account what Spanish residents invest outside the country and what foreigners spend in Spain in the same period.

Taking into account only the monthly data and not the accumulated data for the year, in March there were capital outflows amounting to 22,900 million euros, compared to the inflow of 24,500 million a year earlier.