Germany net foreign investment from the rest of the world
Germany net foreign investment from the rest of the world stood at 72,747.66 EUR million in Aug 2026, according to Deutsche Bundesbank. It is one of the indicators in the Balance of payments: financial and capital account table (Value · Monthly), with a complete series running from Jan 1971 to Aug 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Balance of payments: financial and capital account table
| Indicator | 08-2026 | 07-2026 | 06-2026 | 05-2026 | 04-2026 | 03-2026 | 02-2026 | 01-2026 | 12-2025 | 11-2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of the world3 | 72,747.66 | 16,968.24 | 81,182.56 | 105,085.66 | 29,649.56 | 21,021.84 | 91,259.97 | 198,320.03 | -121,624.18 | 22,306.38 | |
| Direct investment | 2,576.28 | 13,557.39 | 5,454.29 | 12,049.31 | -6,806.89 | 23,105.42 | 1,403.74 | -8,615.44 | -18,680.43 | 9,713.46 | |
| Other investment | 41,659.68 | -40,094.83 | 46,312.89 | 54,849.37 | 5,682.01 | -5,464.27 | 62,445.65 | 151,756.56 | -76,004.94 | -20,143.59 |
Understanding germany net foreign investment from the rest of the world
All inbound capital flows from non-resident actors into the domestic economy are captured by this aggregate metric. The measure combines every form of external financing and asset purchase targeting resident entities, covering direct equity stakes, portfolio securities, and other borrowing arrangements such as loans and trade credits. It spans investments directed at all domestic sectors, from corporate businesses and commercial banks to government debt issuance. This aggregate represents the total net incurrence of liabilities to the rest of the world, providing a full accounting of how foreign savings are deployed to finance resident activities, regardless of the instrument or the institutional nature of the recipient.
Reading this overall liability metric accurately means recognizing the diverse and often opposing forces driving its individual components. Because foreign direct investment may follow different cycles than short-term banking flows or sovereign bond purchases, period-on-period comparisons can be noisy; a year-on-year perspective helps isolate structural shifts in external funding reliance. Revisions are a standard feature of the release cycle, as initial clearing data is gradually replaced by granular enterprise surveys and custodian reports. A frequent error in analysis is equating a drop in this net flow to an actual withdrawal of foreign capital, when it may simply reflect a slowdown in the pace of new inbound investment.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a negative figure represent in this series?
- A negative value indicates that foreign investors sold off domestic assets or that resident entities repaid external liabilities faster than new funds arrived.
- Is foreign ownership of domestic real estate included?
- Yes, purchases of domestic physical property by non-resident individuals or corporations are captured as part of the direct investment component within this total.
- How are reinvested earnings treated?
- Profits generated by domestic subsidiaries that are not repatriated to their foreign parent companies are recorded as new inbound investment within this measure.