Poland’s balance of payments in September 2023

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NBP data: In September 2023, the current account of the balance of payments posted surpluses in the services account (PLN 13.9bn) and the trade in goods account (PLN 3.7bn), and deficits in the primary income account (PLN 15.0bn) and the secondary income account (PLN 0.8bn).

Preliminary data on Poland’s balance of payments in September 2023, released by NBP on 13 November 2023, show a surplus of PLN 1.8bn on the country’s current account. In the corresponding month of 2022, the balance on the current account was negative and amounted to PLN 11.3bn.

Since the beginning of 2023, the balance of the trade in goods account has been positive. In September 2023, the surplus of exports over imports was PLN 3.7bn, compared to a deficit of PLN 12.3bn in September 2022. The improvement in the balance was mainly due to a sharp decrease in the negative balance of such categories as fuels, intermediate goods and investment goods. At the same time, a slight decline in the positive balance was recorded in the category of means of transport.

In September, the downward trend in trade in goods continued. According to preliminary estimates, the value of goods exports amounted to PLN 126.4bn, which means a 7.2% decrease on the corresponding month of 2022. The value of goods imports decreased by 17.4% on the September 2022 figure to PLN 122.7bn.

As compared to September 2022, the value of exports fell in each of the six categories, which was also due to September 2023 having one working day less than September 2022. The value of exported intermediate goods and consumer goods, particularly durable consumer goods, fell the most.

The value of imports also dropped in all the categories. The decline was the biggest in the imports of fuels and intermediate goods. At the same time, the decline in the volume of investment and consumer goods imports deepened. The growth rate of imports of new passenger cars continued to be high.

Exports of services amounted to PLN 37.2bn and dropped by PLN 0.6bn (or 1.7%) on the corresponding month of 2022. Imports of services amounted to PLN 23.3bn, which represents a decrease of PLN 0.2bn (or 0.9%) on the September 2022 figure.

The negative balance of the primary income was primarily determined by foreign direct investors’ income on their equity investment in Polish entities, which amounted to PLN 13.6bn. The balance of the primary income account was also influenced by the payment of income on portfolio investment (PLN 1.9bn) and on other investment (PLN 2.2bn).