The foreign direct investment stocks reached a new peak at year-end 2017. In 2017, Germany’s primary outward foreign direct investment (FDI) grew considerably by €61 billion and reached a new peak of €1,167 billion at the end of that year. In the opposite direction, inward FDI in Germany rose by €32 billion, likewise achieving its highest ever recorded value (€741 billion).

Germany's net external position stood at €1,476 billion at the end of 2015, and thus amounted to around 49 % of gross domestic product. The German net external asset position rose by €302 billion year-on-year.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has warned against government intervention in the market economy becoming the norm after the coronavirus pandemic,  although it was important for the government to intervene strongly in the crisis. “But this must not become a normal state of affairs. I do not believe that governments know best when it comes to running a business,” he said in an interview with the “Augsburger Allgemeine” newspaper.