Bundesbank’s external position stood at €931 billion at the end of February 2026, with claims from the TARGET2 payment system worth €1017 billion making up around 63 % of total assets. These are followed by international reserves, comprising gold and foreign exchange reserves, including the special drawing rights allocated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which account for a total of 29 % of assets. At 86 %, issuance of euro cash accounted for the bulk of liabilities. Deposits of non-euro area residents amount to 5 % of foreign liabilities.

An economy’s i.i.p. captures the marked-to-market financial assets and liabilities of residents vis-à-vis non-residents at the end of each quarter. Thus, the i.i.p. provides information not only on the volume and structure of financial assets held abroad by residents, but also on those held in Germany by non-residents. The net i.i.p. as a percentage of GDP is a key indicator in the EU’s macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP).