The German Bundesbank released sectoral results from Germany’s financial accounts for the third quarter of 2025, reporting a sharp rise in households’ financial assets driven largely by valuation gains, while external financing of non-financial corporations picked up after a weak previous quarter. The update also highlights distributional differences in inflation-adjusted returns, with the less-wealthy half of households still experiencing negative real returns. Households’ financial assets rose by EUR 165 billion to EUR 9,389 billion, reflecting net acquisitions of EUR 78 billion and valuation gains of EUR 86 billion, mainly linked to strong global equity markets. Cash (+EUR 11 billion) and overnight deposits (+EUR 23 billion) increased while time deposits were broadly flat; investment fund shares showed a combined rise of EUR 63 billion (EUR 22 billion net purchases and EUR 41 billion valuation gains). Aggregated real total returns on household financial wealth increased to about 1.9%, but remained negative for the less-wealthy half, whose portfolios are concentrated in deposits and insurance claims; liabilities climbed to EUR 2,167 billion and the household debt ratio held at 49.0%. External financing of non-financial corporations increased by EUR 8 billion to EUR 47 billion, led by loan financing rising to EUR 28 billion, including higher borrowing from domestic monetary financial institutions (EUR 9 billion). Net bond issuance turned negative at minus EUR 5 billion while net equity issuance reached EUR 20 billion; corporate liabilities ended the quarter at EUR 12,111 billion and the debt ratio edged down to 68.1% as nominal economic output increased. The Bundesbank noted that revisions to the financial accounts and national accounts mean the figures are not comparable with those in earlier press notes.

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