German Bundesbank non-euro area foreign currency claims
German Bundesbank non-euro area foreign currency claims stood at 90,449 EUR million on Oct 9, 2026, according to Deutsche Bundesbank. It is one of the indicators in the Bundesbank weekly balance sheet table (Value · Daily), with a complete series running from Jan 1, 1999 to Oct 9, 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Bundesbank weekly balance sheet table
| Indicator | 09-10-2026 | 02-10-2026 | 25-09-2026 | 18-09-2026 | 11-09-2026 | 04-09-2026 | 28-08-2026 | 21-08-2026 | 14-08-2026 | 07-08-2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claims on non-euro area residents denominated in foreign currency2 | 90,449 | 90,052 | 90,523 | 90,463 | 89,814 | 89,656 | 89,996 | 89,567 | 89,060 | 89,700 | |
| Claims on non-euro area residents denominated in foreign currency, receivables from the IMF | 56,114 | 56,132 | 55,780 | 55,780 | 55,780 | 55,780 | 55,780 | 55,780 | 55,780 | 55,786 | |
| Claims on non-euro area residents denominated in foreign currency, balances with banks, security investments, external loans and other external assets | 34,335 | 33,920 | 34,743 | 34,683 | 34,035 | 33,877 | 34,216 | 33,787 | 33,280 | 33,914 |
Understanding german Bundesbank non-euro area foreign currency claims
Financial assets held against entities outside the shared currency bloc, payable exclusively in foreign denominations, form the core of this traditional reserve measure. This broad classification encompasses foreign sovereign bonds, commercial bank deposits, and special drawing rights issued by external debtors. By stripping out intra-bloc exposure and avoiding external loans denominated in the domestic currency, it isolates the institution's true foreign exchange risk and acts as the primary gauge of its multi-currency international reserve portfolio.
Daily variations in this ledger item reflect both active reserve management decisions and passive exchange rate movements between the domestic benchmark and the underlying foreign denominations. Assessing short-term period-on-period shifts can be highly misleading without adjusting for these pervasive valuation effects, making longer-term moving averages far more suitable for spotting strategic diversification efforts. Retrospective revisions are uncommon, though regular accounting true-ups can introduce occasional step changes. A frequent analytical mistake is confusing these multi-currency holdings with total cross-border exposure, failing to recognize that non-euro entities frequently issue domestic-currency liabilities that fall into an entirely separate reporting category.
Frequently asked questions
- Are domestic-currency loans to foreign governments included here?
- External loans are strictly excluded if they are denominated in the domestic currency, as this category focuses entirely on foreign exchange risk.
- What drives the daily fluctuations in this balance sheet item?
- Short-term movements are primarily driven by shifting exchange rates between the domestic currency and the foreign denominations held in the portfolio.
- Does this metric include claims on commercial banks?
- It includes correspondent deposits and short-term investments held with commercial institutions located outside the shared currency area.