Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €17.6 billion in July 2021, down €5.0 billion on the previous month’s level. Although the surplus in the goods account rose, the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise primary and secondary income as well as services, declined significantly.

In July, the surplus in the goods account increased by €1.1 billion on the month to €17.5 billion, with imports of goods contracting more sharply than exports.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €13.1 billion in May 2021, down €7.9 billion on the previous month’s level. In addition to the declining surplus in the goods account, the main reason for this decrease was the balance in invisible current transactions, which comprise primary and secondary income as well as services, switching from a surplus to a deficit. 

Despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, euro area enterprises and households have not seen their debt situation deteriorate significantly. This is the conclusion reached by Bundesbank experts after examining developments in greater detail. “The expected normalisation of monetary policy will probably not unduly exacerbate the debt situation of non-financial corporations and households,” they also note in the current edition of the Bank’s Monthly Report

Bundesbank Executive Board member Andreas Dombret is not expecting a financial market crisis following the UK's vote to leave the EU. At an event in Frankfurt am Main, he noted that, even though it was impossible to rule out further movements in prices or shifts of funds from one asset class to another, "a panic reaction to Brexit is rather unlikely at present".

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €22.5 billion in June 2021, up €9.4 billion on the previous month’s level. This was attributable to an increase in the goods account balance and especially in the invisible current transactions balance comprising services as well as primary and secondary income.