The Balance of Payments (BoP) systematically summarizes all economic transactions between the residents and the non-residents of a country or of a economic area during a given period. The Balance of payments provides harmonized information on international transactions which are part of the current account (goods, services, income, current transfers), but also on transactions which fall in the capital and the financial account. BoP is an important macro-economic indicator used to assess the position of an economy (of credit or debit) towards the external world. Data on International Trade in Services (ITS), a component of BoP current account, are used, alongside with data on Foreign Direct Investment (a component of BoP financial account), to monitor the external commercial performance of different economies. Balance of Payments data are used for calculation of indicators needed for monitoring of macroenomic imbalances such as share of main BoP and International Investment Position (IIP) items in GDP and export market shares calculated as the EU Member States' shares in total world exports. Out of BoP data, some indicators of EU market integration are also derived. Data are in millions of Euro/ECU and in millions of national currency. Several statistical adjustments are applied to the original data provided by the Member States. These are described in the International Trade in Services EU 1992-2001 - Compilation guide. The International Monetary Fund Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5) classification is used for the compilation of the BoP. The BoP data are collected through national surveys and administrative sources.
