External position of non-banks
The external position of non-banks records the assets and liabilities of resident (non-bank) enterprises vis-à-vis non-residents as at the end of a reporting period.
Dissemination practice
The external position of non-banks is compiled by the Deutsche Bundesbank on a monthly basis and is published approximately five to six weeks after the end of the reporting month.
The external position of non-banks is published in the following form:
- Time series database
- Monthly Report
- Statistical Supplement 3 Balance of payments statistics
In order to provide a complete picture of relations with foreign countries, late and corrected reports or methodological changes are continuously reflected in the latest calculations.
Methodological notes
The external position of non-banks is a monthly stock statistic. It provides information on the volume and structure of German cross-border financial and trade credits as at the end of the reporting period. The data are broken down by type of loan, maturity, creditor and debtor country as well as by euro and foreign currency. Credit relationships with affiliated enterprises are presented separately. This does not include participating interests in foreign enterprises, non-residents’ participating interests in the equity capital of domestic enterprises or securitised assets and liabilities vis-à-vis non-residents.
The external position of non-banks provides data for drawing up the German balance of payments and the German international investment position. Regarding the concepts, the definitions, and the presentations of the results, the German international investment position follow the methodological guidelines of the IMF’s 5th Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5), the regulations on national accounts (SNA93 ) as well as the “European System of Accounts” (ESA 95 ), which is binding for all members of the European Union, are taken into account.
Data sources
The reporting system serves as the basis for compiling the external position of non-banks. It requires all resident non-banks to report their assets and liabilities from financial and trade credit vis-à-vis non-residents. These reporting requirements are anchored in section 26 (2) of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (Außenwirtschaftsgesetz) together with section 62 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation (Außenwirtschaftsverordnung).
The data are used for statistical purposes only. Pursuant to section 26 (4) of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act in conjunction with section 16 of the Act on Statistics for Federal Purposes (Gesetz über die Statistik für Bundeszwecke), the data are subject to statistical confidentiality and are not made available to third parties.