--- source: Deutsche Bundesbank url: https://www.bundesbank.de/en/press/speeches/annual-accounts-for-2025-990898 document_type: html date_retrieved: 2026-03-15 date_released: 2026-03-05 period: Annual 2025 parent_publication: Bundesbank Annual Report 2025 speaker: Burkhard Balz, Executive Board Member indicators_covered: [Interest Rate Policy, Net Equity, Gold Revaluation, Profit/Loss Account] --- # Annual Accounts for 2025 ## Statement at the Press Conference Presenting the Deutsche Bundesbank's Annual Report for 2025 **Speaker:** Burkhard Balz, Executive Board Member, Deutsche Bundesbank --- ## 1 Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, a warm welcome to today's annual accounts press conference. Before delving into the 2025 annual accounts in detail, three important messages are conveyed: 1. **Net equity has climbed to €363 billion.** 2. **There is a revaluation reserve of €387 billion for the gold.** 3. **The loss for the year has more than halved, and it is likely to decline further in the years to come.** This means that the Bundesbank is in sound financial shape and remains able to fully discharge its tasks even with an accumulated loss. The financial burdens stemming from the monetary policy measures of the past years made themselves felt again in 2025. The Bank is ultimately reporting **a loss for the year of €8.6 billion for 2025**. As mentioned earlier, the loss for the year has thus more than halved compared to the previous year. The loss for the year of €8.6 billion pushes the accumulated loss up to **€27.8 billion**. --- ## 2 Balance Sheet ### Assets Side Total assets fell only slightly, by around €24 billion. While monetary policy bond holdings declined, the gold position climbed to a historical high. Three aspects stand out as shaping the assets side of the balance sheet: 1. **Securities holdings from monetary policy purchase programmes (APP and PEPP)** are gradually decreasing as securities reach maturity. **Monetary policy securities holdings declined by €122 billion in 2025.** 2. **TARGET claim on the ECB** saw a slight reduction of **€23 billion** due to liquidity outflows. 3. **Gold position rose by €125 billion** compared with the previous year-end figure on account of valuation effects, **reaching a new historical high of €395 billion**. This almost offsets the monetary policy-induced decline in total assets. ### Liabilities Side Looking at the liabilities side of the balance sheet, three key points stand out: 1. **Deposits decline:** With monetary policy securities holdings declining on the assets side, the liabilities side saw a further reduction in deposits. **Liabilities related to monetary policy operations fell by €137 billion on the year.** In addition, other euro balances went down by €23 billion over the past year, mainly owing to smaller balances of non-euro area central banks. 2. **Banknotes in circulation:** When the negative interest rate policy period ended in 2022, growth in the volume of banknotes in circulation within the Eurosystem effectively came to a standstill. Since mid-2024, banknote circulation has picked up momentum again at some national central banks, especially the Bundesbank. The volume of banknotes issued by the Bundesbank has risen to **€990 billion**. However, according to the banknote allocation key, the Bundesbank's share of total euro banknotes issued by the Eurosystem amounts to just €397 billion. The difference of €593 billion is reflected in liabilities sub-item 9.2 "Net liabilities related to the allocation of euro banknotes within the Eurosystem." 3. **Revaluation accounts:** This item **increased on the year, climbing by €121 billion to €388 billion.** ### Gold Revaluation The revaluation reserve for gold has **risen by €125 billion to €387 billion** based on the market value of gold as at the reporting date. The revaluation reserve for gold has exhibited strong growth, especially when viewed over the long term. This revaluation reserve is currently almost nineteen times as high as its level when monetary union was launched at the start of 1999. The revaluation reserve for foreign currency has fallen significantly by €4 billion. This is due, in particular, to the US dollar's weakening against the euro. ### Net Equity Composition Net equity comprises: - Capital and reserves - The provision for general risk - The revaluation accounts item - As of the 2024 annual accounts, the accumulated loss Net equity has gone up by **€112 billion to €363 billion** in 2025, even though the accumulated loss in 2025 has increased by €8.6 billion to €27.8 billion. As in the previous year, the increase in net equity is due to the revaluation reserve for gold having reached a new high. The net equity of **€363 billion** shows that the Bank can absorb the existing and prospective losses. It is fully able to fulfil its mandate. The balance sheet is very sound. --- ## 3 Profit and Loss Account The Bundesbank's earnings situation has improved considerably on the year. Having said that, the key interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 continue to have a marked impact on the annual result. On the assets side, the Bundesbank holds long-term monetary policy securities generating comparatively low levels of remuneration, whilst on the liabilities side there are short-term deposits of banks that are remunerated at higher rates. ### Net Interest Income The most important component of the profit and loss account is **net interest income**. While this stood at **minus €13.1 billion in 2024**, it amounts to **minus €4.2 billion in 2025**. Net interest income is therefore moving in the right direction. The monetary policy asset purchases have given rise to longer-term fixed interest positions generating a low level of remuneration. The liabilities side features counterparts primarily in the form of short-term, higher-interest-bearing deposits by commercial banks. The mismatch in maturities creates an open euro interest rate position on the balance sheet. The significant increase in the deposit facility rate in 2022 and 2023 has caused the interest rate risk contained in the open euro interest rate position to materialise, placing net interest income under strain. **In 2025:** - Monetary policy securities were remunerated at an average rate of **0.58%** - Credit institutions' monetary policy deposits gave rise to an average interest expense of **2.31%** - This gives a **negative interest margin of 1.73%**, significantly smaller than the previous year's figure of **3.28%** - Maturing securities held for monetary policy purposes have brought the open euro interest rate position down by around **24% on average for 2025** ### Financial Operations and Foreign Exchange The net result of financial operations and write-downs related to foreign exchange and securities stands at **minus €226 million** on balance, which is **€1.1 billion lower** than in the previous year. This is largely due to exchange rate losses. ### Monetary Income Pooling The burden from the net result of pooling monetary income stands at **€1.7 billion** in 2025, significantly lower than the previous year's €5.4 billion. The **€3.8 billion reduction** here is mainly due to interest rate cuts and the change in the reference interest rate. Since the beginning of 2025, the lower deposit facility rate has been used instead of the main refinancing rate. As a result, the negative interest margin between the actual remuneration and the reference interest rate has narrowed. **Supranational securities:** These are securities issued by supranational institutions and purchased by other national central banks as part of PSPP and PEPP purchases. The Bundesbank itself has no holdings. The Eurosystem's holdings came to an **annual average of €368 billion**. The supranational securities holdings generate only a low level of remuneration. The negative interest margin on these holdings is around **1.6%** on an annual average for 2025. In the previous year, the interest margin – calculated by comparison with the main refinancing rate – was still **3.6%**. Based on its capital share of **26.6%**, the charge for the Bundesbank came to around **€1.6 billion**, compared with a charge of **€3.8 billion in 2024**. ### Staff Costs Staff costs came to **€1.8 billion in 2025**, up **€322 million**. This was due to higher transfers to staff provisions necessitated by the general pay rise for salaried staff and civil servants. ### Annual Result The upshot overall is **a loss for the year of €8.6 billion for 2025**. In 2024, the loss for the year amounted to €19.8 billion, but reserves totalling €0.7 billion were still available to offset some of that. Combined with the accumulated loss carried forward from 2024 of **€19.2 billion**, the 2025 accumulated loss comes to **€27.8 billion**. This will be carried forward to 2026. --- ## 4 Conclusion The positive news is that **the Bundesbank's assets considerably outweigh its obligations**. **Net equity stands at €363 billion and has thus risen by 44.7%!** The loss for the year in 2025 has **more than halved** compared to the previous year but is still considerable at **€8.6 billion**. The Bundesbank expects the burdens to carry on subsiding in 2026. Nevertheless, they will remain sizeable. The **open euro interest rate position will shrink further in size**, with monetary policy securities holdings getting progressively smaller as they mature. Overall, the Bundesbank expects to report **accumulated losses for an extended period of time**, meaning that the Bank will be unable to distribute any profit. The Bundesbank is **capable of shouldering both its current and foreseeable financial burdens**. It is **fully able to discharge its tasks**. The Bundesbank's balance sheet **remains sound**. --- ## Key Metrics Summary | Metric | 2025 | 2024 | Change | |--------|------|------|--------| | Net Equity | €363 billion | €251 billion | +€112 billion (+44.7%) | | Accumulated Loss | €27.8 billion | €19.2 billion | +€8.6 billion | | Loss for the Year | €8.6 billion | €19.8 billion | -€11.2 billion (halved) | | Net Interest Income | -€4.2 billion | -€13.1 billion | +€8.9 billion improvement | | Gold Revaluation Reserve | €387 billion | €262 billion | +€125 billion | | Monetary Policy Securities Holdings | (declined €122 billion) | (baseline) | -€122 billion | | Staff Costs | €1.8 billion | €1.478 billion | +€322 million | | Negative Interest Margin | 1.73% | 3.28% | -155 bps | | Supranational Securities Charge | €1.6 billion | €3.8 billion | -€2.2 billion |