Credit: STATEC
On Thursday 8 January 2026, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) and STATEC published the first provisional results of Luxembourg's balance of payments for the first three quarters of 2025.
According to these provisional results, the current account for the first three quarters of 2025 showed a surplus of €5,913 million, a decrease of €932 million compared to the same period of the previous year.
The goods surplus amounted to €1,218 million for the first three quarters of 2025, representing a drop of €139 million compared to the same period in 2024. Exports of goods rose by 2% while imports increased by 3%. Firstly, net exports from international trade (purchases and resale of goods abroad) increased by €510 million. Secondly, the trade deficit in general goods / merchandise widened: exports decreased by 0.4% (-€67 million), while imports increased by 2.9% (+€582 million).
The balance of international trade in services shrank by 10% in the first three quarters of 2025 (-€2,369 million) compared to the same period in 2024, due to the fact that imports increased by 4.6% while exports increased by only 1.3%.
Trade in non-financial services remained virtually unchanged for exports (-0.1%) but increased significantly for imports (5.5%), thereby reducing the surplus in non-financial services compared to the first three quarters in 2024. International trade in financial services, meanwhile, progressed with 2.5% for exports and 3.6% for imports. This increase on both sides was driven mainly by a rise in average assets under management by investment funds during the period under review (6%) compared to the same period in 2024.
In the financial account, direct investments were slightly positive for the first three quarters of 2025 for assets (€11.8 billion) and negative for liabilities (-€25.7 billion, largely due to intra-group loans), following a period of sustained positive investment on both sides during the first three quarters of 2024.
Regarding portfolio investments, holdings in Luxembourg equities, managed by undertakings for collective investment (UCIs), recorded net inflows, reaching €284.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, compared to net inflows of €115.1 billion during the same period in 2024. Foreign equity investments saw positive inflows (€42.5 billion) compared to the previous year (-€27.3 billion). Moreover, resident institutions, particularly money market funds and non-MMF investment funds, purchased foreign debt securities (€267.4 billion).
Luxembourg debt securities recorded net inflows of €47.2 billion, an increase compared to the first three quarters of 2024 (€10.4 billion).
Banks and other resident institutions increased their other investments abroad, primarily in the form of loans and deposits (€124.7 billion). Non-resident investors also increased their other investments in Luxembourg (€101.5 billion), in particular through loans granted to resident (non-MMF) investment funds.
