The Bundesbank’s ESG Bond Monitor provides an overview of the market for sustainable bonds. Topics covered are, among others, the issuance of sustainability-related bonds across various jurisdictions and economic sectors, as well as the performance of sustainable bonds compared with conventional peers.

In this edition:

2024 was the second strongest year in ESG bond issuance to date. With €915 billion, slightly more ESG bonds have been issued compared to previous years; only in 2021 was the issuance volume even higher, at €995 billion. In 2024, German issuers issued ESG bonds totalling €73 billion, making Germany, after France, the second largest location for ESG bond issuers. With €64 billion, Germany is even the leader in the segment of green bonds. Special topic in this issue is a brief analysis of the holder structure of funds with ESG-related assets in the euro area. The ESG share of euro area custodians has been rising since 2018 and is currently around 9 %. In absolute terms, most of the volume in the euro area will be held by traditional funds. The high ESG share of ETFs held in euro area custody of around 25‑40 %, depending on the ETF indicator, is striking.

Available in German only.