Event date: October 2, 2026. The European Union recorded a seasonally adjusted current-account surplus of €80.2 billion in the second quarter, equal to 1.6% of GDP, Eurostat reported. That was down from €98.0 billion, or 2.0% of GDP, in the first quarter and €91.7 billion in the second quarter of 2025.
The goods surplus narrowed slightly to €62.9 billion from €63.6 billion. The services surplus fell to €41.7 billion from €48.1 billion, while the primary-income balance dropped to a €0.8 billion surplus from €15.7 billion. The EU still recorded a surplus with the United Kingdom of €89.8 billion and Canada of €12.9 billion, but deficits with China and the United States widened to €66.6 billion and €30.3 billion respectively in the non-seasonally adjusted partner data.
The overall figure confirms that the EU remained a net current-account surplus region, but the smaller balance shows that external earnings were less supportive than earlier in the year.
Reader question: Does an EU surplus mean every member country exported more than it imported? No. The aggregate combines countries with both surpluses and deficits.