Despite the rather sluggish global economic momentum in 2012, German investors stepped up their outward primary foreign direct investment (FDI) during this period considerably by €53 billion to just under €1.2 trillion. This occurred mainly by raising equity stakes, including the reinvestment of earnings. Europe was the main focus of Germany’s outward FDI.

Topics: Germany’s balance of payments in 2013, Shadow banking in the euro area: outline and monetary policy implications, Manufacturing enterprises in Germany: their vulnerability to crises ̶ findings of a risk analysis using year-end data

Germany’s financial links with the rest of the world continued to increase in 2012.

2011 saw a continuation of the trend towards building up multinational groups by way of holding companies.

Germany’s financial ties with the rest of the world intensified further in 2011, partly due to the crisis. However, growth in cross-border positions was significantly weaker than one year previously.

The Direct investment according to the balance of payments statistics, which were published today, provide an insight into direct investment flows between Germany and the rest of the world from 2008 to 2011 as they feature in the balance of payments, broken down by country and economic sector.