Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €28.2 billion in December 2020, up €6.9 billion from the previous month’s level. Although the goods account surplus decreased, the surplus in invisible current transactions – comprising the services account as well as primary and secondary income – increased to a much greater degree.

Despite significant price losses on the capital markets, the financial assets of households in Germany rose in 2011 to a total of €4,715 billion at year-end. At the same time, households’ debt increased slightly to around €1,550 billion. Non-financial corporations’ acquisition of financial assets grew by roughly €209 billion and thus surpassed the increase in their external financing, which amounted to just under €190 billion.

Germany’s outward immediate and indirect foreign direct investment (FDI) was up by €48 billion at the end of 2019 to €1,372 billion. The ranking of individual recipient countries remained broadly unchanged: almost 30%, or €391 billion worth, of all German FDI went to the United States, which was once again number one.