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 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

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €2.5 billion in May 2022, down €6.4 billion on the previous month’s level. Although the surplus in the goods account increased, this was outweighed by the sharp shift into a deficit for invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

In April 2022, Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €7.4 billion, down €11.3 billion on the previous month’s level. This was chiefly due to a decrease in the goods account surplus, but was also attributable to a somewhat lower surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

The German current account recorded a surplus of €18.8 billion in March 2022, down €2.3 billion on the previous month’s level.

Germany’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks fell by €10 billion to €1,376 billion in 2020. This decline was mainly due to negative exchange rate effects, which led to a lower valuation of the stocks, a Bundesbank press release on these figures explains. The same period saw stocks of FDI in Germany increase by €39 billion to €845 billion.

The German current account recorded a surplus of €20.8 billion in February 2022, up €8.4 billion on the previous month’s level. This was mainly attributable to an increase in the goods account surplus. Conversely, the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, contracted slightly. 

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €11.0 billion in January 2022, down €13.6 billion on the previous month’s level. The surplus in the goods account declined considerably, with the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, contracting even more strongly.