The harmonised European revision policy envisages a so-called benchmark revision for 2024. This revision allows new information to be included over the entire period of the statistics. The focus here is particularly on the consistent implementation in the balance of payments, international investment position, financial accounts and national accounts. The 2024 benchmark revision will lead to stronger revisions, especially in three areas:

1. As of 1991, trade in goods will be adjusted for transactions that were only registered for tax purposes in Germany but did not lead to a change of ownership. This will reduce both revenue and expenditure by up to 14 %.
2. As of 2014, income from direct investment will take into account not only the undistributed profits of the “subsidiaries”, but also of the “grandchildren”. This increases incomes.
3. The distributions of EU funds will also be booked for the period from 1991 onwards, consistent with the national accounts.

The revised balance of payments data will be published in the press release on 12 September 2024.