The surplus recorded in the services account (+39.3 bn euro) was mainly the result of surpluses in "other business services", which includes miscellaneous business, professional and technical services (+15.3 bn), transportation (+7.6 bn), financial services (+7.4 bn), computer & information services (+6.2 bn), insurance services (+3.8 bn) and construction services (+2.7 bn), partly offset by a deficit in royalties & license fees (-2.0 bn).
In the third quarter of 2012, the EU27 external current account recorded a surplus with the USA (+34.1 bn euro), Switzerland (+15.1 bn), Hong Kong (+7.8 bn), Brazil (+7.4 bn), Canada (+5.0 bn) and India (+1.4 bn), and a deficit with China (-30.1 bn), Russia (-6.7 bn) and Japan (-5.4 bn).
Financial Account
In the third quarter of 2012, the EU27 made direct investments abroad of 55.3 bn euro, compared with 40.5 bn in the same quarter of 2011, while foreign direct investors made investments in the EU27 of 35.4 bn, compared with 34.3 bn in the same quarter of 2011. Portfolio investments recorded a net outflow of 126.0 bn, compared with a net inflow of 105.0 bn in the third quarter of 2011.
Current account of Member States (including intra-EU flows)
As concerns the total (intra-EU plus extra-EU) current account balances of the EU27 Member States5, seventeen recorded surpluses, nine deficits and one was in balance in the third quarter of 2012. The highest surpluses were observed in Germany (+41.5 bn euro), the Netherlands (+12.6 bn), Sweden (+7.8 bn) and Denmark (+4.0 bn), and the largest deficits in the United Kingdom (-20.2 bn), France (-8.0 bn), Poland (-3.4 bn) and Belgium (-2.8 bn).
