Greece February 2026 Balance of Payments: Services Surplus Rises, Travel Receipts Jump 83%

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Balance of Payments: February 2026

20/04/2026 - Press Releases

Important notice : On 07/04/2026, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced the postponement of the release of data on Greece’s Commercial Transactions for the reference month February 2026 **[1]** ****** that constitute ****** the main source for the compilation of the balance of goods by the Bank of Greece. Thus, the Bank of Greece will not publish data on the balance of goods and, therefore, on the balances that include the balance of goods, e.g. the current account, until the relevant data are released by ELSTAT.

• In February 2026, the services balance registered a small improvement, while the primary and secondary income accounts deteriorated year-on-year.

• In January-February 2026, the surplus of the services balance increased, while, on the one hand, the primary income account registered a deficit against a surplus and, on the other, the secondary income account deteriorated year-on-year.

Current account

In February 2026, the surplus of the services balance recorded a modest increase due to an improvement in the travel balance, which was almost completely offset by a decrease in the surplus of the transport balance and by a shift of the other services balance from surplus to deficit. Compared with February 2025, non-residents’ arrivals and the relevant receipts rose by 44.5% and 83.2%, respectively.

The deficit of the primary income account almost doubled year-on-year, almost exclusively on account of lower net receipts under other primary income. The deficit of the secondary income account widened, mainly due to higher general government net payments.

In January-February 2026, the surplus of the services balance increased, mainly due to an improvement in the travel balance, which was for the most part offset by a deterioration in the transport and the other services balances. Compared with January-February 2025, non-residents’ arrivals rose by 38.5% and the relevant receipts grew by 70.7%.

The primary income account registered a deficit, against a small surplus in January-February 2025, mainly because net receipts from other primary income dropped almost by half. The secondary income account surplus contracted during the same period year-on-year, mainly as a result of lower net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.

Capital account

In February 2026, the capital account registered a deficit of €106.8 million, compared with a surplus year-on-year, reflecting almost zero general government net receipts, despite the decrease in net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.

In January-February 2026, the capital account recorded a deficit of €263.0 million, against a surplus in the corresponding period of 2025, as a result, on the one hand, of almost zero general government net receipts and, on the other, an increase in net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.

Financial account

In February 2026, direct investment saw net flows of €600.7 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €780.9 million under residents’ external liabilities.

Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets is mainly attributable to a rise of €1.2 billion in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills and, to a lesser extent, to a rise of €303.7 million in their holdings of foreign equities. A rise in their liabilities is chiefly due to a €1.4 billion increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills and, secondarily, to a €151.0 million rise in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.

Under other investment, residents’ external assets grew mainly due to a €3.4 billion rise in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad and, to a lesser extent, as a result of a €511.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes. An increase in residents’ external liabilities chiefly reflects a rise of €8.0 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (including the TARGET account) and, to a lesser extent, a €511.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes, which were offset, to a degree, by a decline of €1.5 billion in the outstanding debt to non-residents.

In January-February 2026, direct investment showed a €1.1 billion flow under residents’ external assets and a €3.0 billion flow under residents’ external liabilities, representing non-residents’ direct investment in Greece.

Under portfolio investment, an increase in residents’ external assets is mainly attributable to a rise of €615.7 million in residents’ holdings of foreign equities and, to a lesser extent, to an increase of €186.0 million in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. A rise in residents’ external liabilities is mainly due to a €5.6 billion increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills, which was partly offset by a €1.3 billion decrease in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.

Under other investment, an increase in residents’ external assets stems from a €3.2 billion rise in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad, a €1.1 billion increase in loans extended to non-residents and a €868.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes. A rise in residents’ external liabilities is mainly attributed to an increase of €4.8 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (including the TARGET account) and, secondarily, a €868.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes, which were offset, to a degree, by a decline of €2.0 billion in the outstanding debt to non-residents.

At end-February 2026, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €23.0 billion, compared with €15.7 billion at end-February 2025.

Note: Balance of payments data for March 2026 will be released on 22 May 2026.

[1] See ELSTAT’s announcement of 7 April 2026
(https://www.statistics.gr/documents/20181/18755679/NWSCOMMERCIALFEB2026EN.pdf/54aea8fa-fb8e-9efb-c337-f6a424a6cd7d?t=1775551966434).

Documents

• Balance of Payments: February 2026, Table