Balance of payments – commentary
2025 Q4
Simultaneously with the publication of the 2025 Q4 balance of payments figures, revised data for 2025 Q1–Q3 and all quarters of 2024 are being published. The revised data mainly take into account updated CZSO data on exports and imports of goods and services and, on the financial account, data from statements submitted to the CNB by financial and non-financial entities, the annual survey of foreign direct investment in the country and domestic direct investment abroad.
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The current account ended 2025 Q4 in a surplus of CZK 13.6 billion. The financial account recorded a net outflow of funds (net lending) of CZK 26.6 billion owing to higher transaction growth in external assets than external liabilities. The CNB’s reserve assets rose by CZK 98.0 billion (adjusted for valuation and price differences).
The result of the transactions was a current account surplus of 0.7% of GDP on an annual basis. The goods and services balance was in surplus, amounting to 5.9% of GDP.
Current account
Ratio of Current Account and Goods and Services Balance to GDP
(CZK billions, right-hand scale in %)
Note: Indicators calculated on the basis of annual moving aggregates
The goods and services balance recorded a surplus of CZK 107.0 billion in Q4. The balance fell by CZK 2.5 billion year on year at current prices. The goods balance ended in a surplus of CZK 96.3 billion (a year-on-year increase of CZK 2.1 billion). The services balance also showed a surplus (CZK 10.7 billion), representing a year-on-year decrease in the surplus of CZK 4.6 billion. The year-on-year decline in the services surplus was due mainly to an annual decrease in the balance of professional services and management consulting activities and an annual decrease in the balance of research and development services.
The primary income deficit was CZK 81.3 billion in Q4. Its year-on-year widening of CZK 31.0 billion was due mainly to a year-on-year increase in reinvested earnings distributed among foreign direct investors. These reinvested earnings amounted to CZK 77.2 billion, representing a year-on-year rise of CZK 19.4 billion.
Secondary income ended Q4 in a deficit of CZK 12.0 billion (a decrease in the deficit of CZK 6.5 billion on a year earlier). The reduction in the deficit was due mainly to an increase in the surplus on net income from the EU budget recorded in the secondary income balance.
The capital account
The capital account ended Q4 in a surplus of CZK 16.5 billion. The year-on-year decline in the surplus of CZK 50.7 billion was due to lower income from the EU budget recorded on the capital account.
The financial account
The financial account (including the change in the CNB’s reserve assets) recorded a net outflow (net lending) of CZK 26.6 billion in Q4 owing to external assets increasing more markedly than external liabilities.
Ratio of Financial Account to GDP
(CZK billions, right-hand scale in %)
Note: Indicators calculated on the basis of annual moving aggregates
Foreign direct investment saw a net outflow of funds totalling CZK 67.0 billion. The main factor on the asset side was an increase in the equity capital of foreign subsidiaries owned by domestic investors. Liabilities transactions included an increase in the share of foreign owners in the reinvested earnings of domestic companies, and the equity capital of domestic companies held by foreign parent companies also increased.
Portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of CZK 108.5 billion. Purchases of domestic debt securities (CZK 141.7 billion) and investment fund units (CZK 20.4 billion) by non-residents were recorded on the liabilities side. On the asset side, residents purchased investment fund units (CZK 34.3 billion) and foreign debt securities (CZK 15.5 billion).
Derivatives trading recorded a net outflow of funds totalling CZK 11.8 billion.
Other investment saw an inflow (net borrowing) of CZK 18.0 billion. This was due to a net inflow within deposits (CZK 15.7 billion) and within trade credits and advances (CZK 13.0 billion), while a net outflow within other accounts receivable/payable (CZK 6.6 billion) acted in the opposite direction.
The foreign exchange position of the banking sector (including the CNB) saw a net inflow of CZK 28.7 billion.
The position of other sectors within other investment recorded a net inflow of CZK 7.1 billion, due mainly to a combination of a net inflow within trade credits and advances (CZK 24.3 billion) and a net outflow within financial loans (CZK 11.1 billion).
The CNB’s own transactions and transactions for CNB clients resulted in an increase in reserve assets of CZK 98.0 billion (adjusted for valuation differences).