Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €5.9 billion in October 2022, almost half of the previous month’s result.

At the end of 2021, Germany’s primary outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks were up 8% on the year at €1,506 billion. Stocks of FDI in Germany show a different picture. A decline was recorded for the first time in a long period, with stocks down 2% to €852 billion. At €169 billion, German FDI flows abroad proved robust for 2022, despite being down slightly on the exceptionally high level of the previous year. By contrast, FDI flows from abroad to Germany almost halved to €44 billion.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann warned that a full-blown trade war between the US and the EU could cost both sides dearly. "The adverse effects might be considerable larger than in case of the trade spat with China“, he said in a speech in New York.