The EU27 external current account recorded a surplus of 21.8 billion euro (0.7% of GDP) in the first quarter of 2013, compared with a deficit of 7.7 bn (-0.2% of GDP) in the first quarter of 2012, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In the first quarter of 2013, compared with the first quarter of 2012, the deficit of the goods account turned into a surplus (+0.8 bn euro compared with -32.8 bn). The surplus of the services account fell slightly (+29.8 bn compared with +31.2 bn), as did the surplus of the income account (+11.9 bn compared with +12.2 bn), while the deficit of the current transfers account increased (-20.7 bn compared with -18.3 bn).