Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, announced yesterday that the EU showed a seasonally adjusted external current account surplus of $17.7 billion, or 0.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the third quarter of 2014. The current account surplus was unchanged from the second quarter of 2014, and down from a surplus $19.7 billion, or 0.5 percent of GDP, in the third quarter of 2013. Investors put $80.9 billion into direct investment assets held abroad, compared with investment of $53.3 billion in the third quarter of 2013. In the bloc, 19 countries recorded surpluses, seven ran deficits and two were in balance in the third quarter of 2014. The highest surpluses were observed in Germany, with $63.7 billion, the Netherlands, with $17.3 billion, Italy with $12.2 billion and Sweden with $7.9 billion. The largest deficits were in the U.K. with $46.3 billion, Belgium with $3.4 billion and Poland with $2.12 billion.