Households’ financial assets fell by €98 billion in the second quarter of 2022 and thus for the second time in succession. At the end of the quarter they stood at €7,496 billion.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of only €0.6 billion in August 2022, down €4.8 billion on the previous month’s level. This was due to a decrease in the goods account surplus. The deficit on invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, changed only slightly.

At the end of December 2021, Germany’s net external assets stood at €2,545 billion, thus amounting to around 71% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Both German claims and liabilities vis-à-vis non-residents continued to rise in 2021.

Germany’s small and medium-sized banks and savings banks are well-capitalised for the most part, according to the results of the LSI stress test and a joint BaFin-Bundesbank survey. Credit institutions’ profitability was low, however, and an economic downturn would add to the pressure on their earnings position, Joachim Wuermeling and Raimund Röseler explained at a joint press conference, though the interest rate reversal may provide some relief for institutions in the medium term, they added. 

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €5.0 billion in July 2022, down €9.3 billion on the previous month’s level. This was primarily caused by the shift into a deficit in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income. There was also a smaller surplus in goods trading.

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €16.2 billion in June 2022, meaning that the result was clearly positive again following the slight deficit of €0.4 billion in the previous month. This was primarily caused by the sharp shift in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income. There was also a higher surplus in goods trading

The Deutsche Bundesbank has published its first climate-related report. This publication outlines how the Bundesbank incorporates climate-related risks into individual areas of activity within its mandate.

In the second year of the pandemic, the number of card transactions reported by payment service providers in Germany rose again significantly compared with the previous year, increasing by 10% to more than 8 billion payments.

In the first half of 2022, around 19,800 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of just under €1 million were withdrawn from circulation in Germany. The number of counterfeits fell by 3.9% compared with the second half of 2021. This equates to five counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.