The Bundesbank has significantly raised its forecast for German economic growth for this year and the next. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann expects the trajectory of growth to be sustained in equal measure by domestic and foreign demand. However, he sees risks of a setback to economic recovery in the euro area.

German economic output could grow again significantly in the second quarter of 2021, according to the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report. Rapid progress in the vaccination campaign opens the prospect of a considerable loosening of containment measures in the coming months. GDP could then exceed its pre-crisis level as early as the fourth quarter.

At the end of the first quarter of 2017, households' financial assets amounted to €5,676 billion; this figure was up markedly, by just over €84 billion (1.5%), from the fourth quarter of 2016. The rise was predominantly attributable to the transaction-based acquisition of financial assets, which, at roughly €60 billion, was higher than in the preceding quarters.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, households' financial assets amounted to €5,586 billion; this figure was up markedly by €98 billion (or 1.8%) from the third quarter of 2016. The increase owed partly to substantial valuation gains of just over €53 billion on financial assets, in particular on equities and investment fund shares.