The financing capacity of the Spanish economy in March 2025 stood at 3.7% of GDP, a figure similar to the previous year, historically high – Bank of Spain News

Statistical press release

 

Main Balance of Payments Results

• The surplus in the current account was 2.5% of GDP, slightly below the figure until March 2024.

• The tourism balance increased to 4.3% of GDP in the twelve-month cumulative, offsetting the decline in non-tourism goods and services.

• The financial account , excluding the Bank of Spain, showed a twelve-month balance of 5.3% of GDP compared to 2.4% the previous year.

Accumulated Funding Capacity

The funding capacity until March 2025 was 3.7% of GDP¹ (59.5 billion euros), the same percentage as a year earlier (56.4 billion), historically high, 1 percentage point above the pre-Covid 2014-2019 average. The current account surplus was 2.5% of GDP (41.1 billion) while the capital account surplus was 1.1% (18.4 billion), experiencing very slight variations downwards and upwards, respectively, compared to March 2024. The capital account balance was 0.7% above the pre-Covid period average².

 

 

Current Account Accumulated by Components

The improvement in the tourism surplus, which stood at 4.3% of GDP, compared to 4.1% in March 2024 (69 billion and 61.6 billion, respectively), occurred with a growth in revenues that continue to reach historical highs, at 6.2% of GDP (99.7 billion), compared to 5.8% of GDP (88.5 billion) a year earlier. The non-tourism goods and services balance was -0.4% of GDP (0.1% a year earlier) and the income balance was -1.3% (the same percentage as in March 2024).

 

Financial Account without Banco de España Accumulated by Functional Category

The twelve-month accumulation of the financial account, excluding the Bank of Spain, was 5.3% of GDP (85.6 billion) until March 2025, compared to 2.4% (36.2 billion) in March of the previous year. This increase in the positive balance was mainly due to the variation in portfolio investment, which went from -3.3% (-50.6 billion) in March 2024 to 1% of GDP (16.1 billion). Direct investment also contributed to this variation, with a balance of 1.4% of GDP (22.6 billion) until March 2025, compared to -0.4% (-6.4 billion) in March 2024. Other investment evolved in the opposite direction and had a balance of 3.1% of GDP (43.3 billion), compared to 6.3% (96.2 billion) a year earlier.

 

Financial Account Accumulated by Institutional Sector

The sectors that contributed to the positive sign of the financial account were the Other Monetary Financial Institutions and the Other Resident Sectors, which recorded a higher balance than the previous year, at 5.4% of GDP (87.5 billion) and 4.2% of GDP (67.6 billion), respectively. The balance of the Bank of Spain was -1% of GDP (-16.4 billion), compared to 2% (29.7 billion) in March 2024. The balance of the Public Administrations was slightly more negative than a year earlier, at -4.3% of GDP (69.7 billion).

 

Monthly Funding Capacity. Main Components 

The funding capacity in March 2025 was 2.3 billion, compared to 5.9 billion in the same month of the previous year. Non-tourism goods and services showed a deficit of -2 billion, compared to a surplus of 0.9 billion a year earlier. Both exports and imports remained at high levels, but slightly higher in the case of imports. Conversely, the tourism surplus increased slightly to 5.2 billion, due to the increase in revenues.