The balance of payments records all economic transactions between residents and non-residents within a given time period and thus shows a country’s complex economics links with the rest of the world.

Current data and changes compared with the previous month

Further information

100 years of the German balance of payments: 1924 to 2024

To mark the anniversary, we would like to take a look back. We will take you on a short journey through history and show you where the balance of payments in 1924 and 2024 are still very similar and where they differ (significantly).
 

How the official German balance of payments came into being

On 15 July 1926, a working group in Germany was tasked with setting up a balance of payments, in keeping with the resolution of the League of Nations. In 1930, the working group published its results, starting with the 1924 reporting year. It largely applied the League of Nations schema. In some areas, the breakdowns were expanded to accommodate features idiosyncratic to Germany without jeopardising comparability with other countries. This is still standard practice today. 

The current standards seek to ensure comparability by already including extensions to the “core balance of payments” as possible additional components. At that time, however, Germany chose its own approach to the treatment of banknotes, as the working group regarded banknotes as being closer in nature to loans than to (monetary) gold. This interpretation ended up prevailing internationally. Today, banknotes and short-term loans are reported together in the balance of payments (under the item “currency and deposits”).