In the first quarter of 2015, the financial assets of households rose exceptionally steeply by just under €140 billion (ie 2.8%) on the quarter, climbing to a figure of €5,212 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, the financial assets of households rose by around €79 billion or 1.6% on the quarter to €5,152 billion by the year-end.The largest part of this increase, at around €47 billion, was the result of valuation gains; the transaction-related acquisition of financial assets amounted to around €32 billion. There was a continuation of the trend towards liquid assets in an ongoing low-interest-rate environment, a trend which has been observed for some time now.

At the end of the first quarter of 2013, the financial assets of households rose by €52 billion, or 1.1%, on the previous quarter to just under €4,992 billion. The acquisition of financial assets was comparable to the first quarters of the previous years, with only a small percentage of this increase, around €5 billion, attributable to capital market gains.

Households’ financial assets rose by €126 billion to around €6.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019. Valuation gains were the main reason for this increase. Households also increased their holdings of currency, deposits, investment fund shares and claims on insurance corporations.

As at the end of September 2015, households' financial assets amounted to €5,210 billion; this figure was €17 billion (or 0.3%) lower than at the end of the second quarter.

At the end of 2017, German households’ financial assets amounted to €5,857 billion, up by €78 billion, or 1.4%, on the third quarter of the year.

In the first quarter of 2014, the financial assets of households rose by €54 billion on the quarter, climbing to €5,207 billion. The transaction-related acquisition of financial assets accounted for a relatively large share of this increase (€49 billion), while valuation gains played only a minor role (just under €5 billion).

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, households' financial assets amounted to €5,586 billion; this figure was up markedly by €98 billion (or 1.8%) from the third quarter of 2016. The increase owed partly to substantial valuation gains of just over €53 billion on financial assets, in particular on equities and investment fund shares.

Despite significant price losses on the capital markets, the financial assets of households in Germany rose in 2011 to a total of €4,715 billion at year-end. At the same time, households’ debt increased slightly to around €1,550 billion. Non-financial corporations’ acquisition of financial assets grew by roughly €209 billion and thus surpassed the increase in their external financing, which amounted to just under €190 billion.