Other economic data

Here you will find statistical data from the following areas: financial accounts; public finances; corporate balance sheet statistics; statistics of Financial Vehicle Corporations engaged in securitisation transactions (FVC).

Financial accounts

In the mid-1950s, the Bundesbank – as one of the first central banks in the world – had already started to compile and publish the financial accounts. The financial accounts show the complete financial system of an economy in an aggregated form. They show which sector (ie households, enterprises or government) provides or draws on financial resources to what extent and in which form. The financial accounts also show to what degree financial intermediaries (ie banks, insurances and investment funds) or capital markets as well as foreign countries are involved in the financial system. Apart from the financial transactions, the financial accounts also give information about the level of financial assets and the debt level of households, enterprises and government.

The Bundesbank uses the figures of the financial accounts, which are commented on regularly in press releases and in the Monthly Reports, to carry out studies on shifts in the financial structures. For this purpose, the relationship between the lending of domestic banks and other financing sources (capital markets, investment funds, insurances and foreign lenders), among other things, is of special interest. A study of this relationship shows the interdependence between the credit and capital markets. More importantly, however, it enables an analysis of the investment and financing behaviour of enterprises and households. This provides important indications, for example, of how the monetary policy impulses affect certain economic factors, such as consumption, production, employment etc (transmission mechanism of monetary policy). Moreover, the figures of the financial accounts are helpful towards creating indicators for the stability of the financial system.

The financial accounts are ultimately part of the national accounts, a statistical accounting system that covers the whole economy. The national accounts can record both the flow of goods in an economy and the income generated within a certain time period. The financial accounts supplement this information by including the financial transactions in an economy.

From the very beginning, the Bundesbank placed great importance on closely interlinking the data of the financial accounts and the real economic national accounts data of the Federal Statistical Office in its publications. In May 2006, the ECB also published such integrated sector accounts for the euro area for the years 1999 to 2004 for the first time. Previously, the Bundesbank focused on presenting annual figures (see Special Statistical Publication 4). Since mid-2006, quarterly figures of the financial accounts have also been available to a similar extent. These figures are reported to the ECB, which uses these figures and the contributions of the other euro-area countries to create and publish the financial accounts for the euro area.

Like the national accounts, the financial accounts are not primary statistics based on own statistical surveys. Instead, they are an analytical framework which includes various statistical sources that primarily serve other purposes. The most important sources of this kind are various Bundesbank statistics, such as the banking statistics and the balance of payments statistics. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) provides external data, in particular regarding insurances and pension funds. The Federal Statistical Office provides statistics on the financial assets and liabilities of the government sector as well as the national accounts data on investment activity and the saving behaviour of the individual sectors.

The results of the financial accounts as well as further methodological notes are regularly published in our Special Statistical Publication 4.

Information on financial assets and liabilities are also used to compile balance sheets for institutional sectors and the total economy. Therefore, data on financial assets and liabilities are complemented by data on fixed assets, which are compiled by the Federal Statistical Office and mainly consist of buildings and structures, machinery and equipment as well as land underlying buildings and structures. As regards the balance of households, data on consumer durables are also added. Overall, these balance sheets provide a rather complete picture of the assets and liabilities of institutional sectors and the total economy.

These balance sheets have been compiled by the Deutsche Bundesbank in cooperation with the Federal Statistical Office and can be found here.

Public finances

Here you will find data on the development of public finances in Germany. Specifically, you will find time series relating to the financial development of the public sector, the financial development of general government in the national accounts and the development of general government debt. You will also find tables and information about Germany's Maastricht debt.

Corporate balance sheet statistics

The Corporate balance sheet statistics allow an analysis of the income, assets and financing situation of the non-financial corporate sector to be carried out. These statistics are based on financial statements of German enterprises outside the banking and insurance sectors, which are entered into the Financial Statements Data Pool.

Statistics on Financial Vehicle Corporations engaged in securitisation transactions (FVC)

The purpose of the data collection is the balance sheet statistics of the German Financial Vehicle Corporations engaged in securitisation transactions (FVC). The data describe the sector of the Other Financial Intermediaries in the European Monetary Union (EMU) in more detail. Furthermore, the data are needed for the analysis of the loan extension of the financial sector composed of the Monetary Financial Institutions (MFI) and Other Financial Intermediaries (OFI) to the nonfinancial sector.