Germany 10Y Government Bond Yield: Monthly Bund Data Since 1990
ECB Dataset · Interest Rates
The Bund: the euro area’s risk-free anchor. All European sovereign spreads, corporate bonds, and swap rates are priced relative to this benchmark. The monthly long-term convergence criterion interest rate as reported to the ECB.
The Bund as the European risk-free rate
The German 10-year Bund yield is the de facto risk-free rate for the euro area. Germany’s AAA rating, deep and liquid bond market, and constitutional debt brake make the Bund the benchmark against which all other European fixed income is priced. When market participants say ‘the BTP-Bund spread is 120 bps,’ they mean the Italian 10-year yield is 1.2 percentage points above this rate.
The Bund yield has followed the global secular decline in long-term rates: from ~7% in the early 1990s to negative territory in 2019–2021 (reaching −0.85% in March 2020). The 2022 inflation shock and ECB tightening drove a sharp reversal — the Bund surged from −0.18% (Jan 2022) to above 2.5% (Oct 2023). Computed on the ECB Data Portal series for Germany 10-Year Government Bond Yield. By early 2026, it has settled around 2.7%, reflecting a structural regime shift from the ultra-low rate era.
Bund scarcity and the ‘safe asset’ problem
Germany’s fiscal conservatism creates a structural scarcity of Bunds relative to demand from pension funds, insurers, and the ECB itself (which holds ~30% of the outstanding stock via APP/PEPP). Taken from the ECB’s official key interest rates. This scarcity depresses Bund yields relative to fundamentals, creating what some analysts call the ‘safe asset premium.’ Recent German defense spending plans (2025–2026) may increase Bund supply significantly, potentially narrowing this premium.
CSV Data Dictionary
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| date | YYYY-MM-DD | First day of the reference month |
| bund_10y_yield | float | German 10-year government bond yield (% per annum, convergence criterion) |
Python Code Example
import pandas as pd
from io import StringIO
import requests
url = "https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/IRS/M.DE.L.L40.CI.0000.EUR.N.Z"
resp = requests.get(url, params={"format": "csvdata"})
raw = pd.read_csv(StringIO(resp.text))
df = raw[["TIME_PERIOD", "OBS_VALUE"]].copy()
df.columns = ["date", "bund_10y_yield"]
df["date"] = pd.to_datetime(df["date"] + "-01")
df = df.sort_values("date").set_index("date")
df.plot(title="Germany 10Y Bund Yield", figsize=(12, 5))Related ECB Datasets
Source & Methodology
Source: ECB / Bundesbank, Long-term convergence criterion interest rate
Series key: IRS/M.DE.L.L40.CI.0000.EUR.N.Z
Data terms: ECB copyright notice: the ECB is cited as the source, the data are reproduced accurately and any modification is stated; no Creative Commons licence.
Cite This Dataset
Last updated — 15 October 2026
Disclaimer – Financial and Legal Information: The analyses, commentary, and content published on eco3min.fr are provided for informational and educational purposes only. They do not constitute investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell financial instruments. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investment decisions involve risk and are the sole responsibility of the reader. Data, charts and calculated series are provided as is and may contain errors or lag behind their source: check any figure against the primary source cited before relying on it. Content describing laws, regulations or contracts reflects the law as of its publication date and does not constitute legal or tax advice; applying it to a specific situation requires a qualified legal or tax professional.
Data on this page: the series are collected automatically from the sources cited, then formatted or calculated by Eco3min (units, frequency, derived calculations). They may differ from the official release because of producer revisions, update lags, rounding or processing errors. They are provided as is, with no warranty of accuracy, completeness or timeliness. Before any professional, contractual or regulatory use, and before any financial decision, check the values against the primary source. To the extent permitted by law, the publisher accepts no liability for the consequences of using these data without that check.
Regulated and tax values: the rates, indices, caps and brackets with legal effect cited on this page are set by official decision, change over time and apply according to individual circumstances. Only the official publication in force on the relevant date is authoritative (for example the Journal officiel, INSEE, Banque de France, the IRS or the Social Security Administration). To revise a rent, sign or challenge a contract, or file a return, check the value at the source or with a professional.
Source terms. This series is produced by the European Central Bank (ECB Data Portal) and redistributed here under the ECB's copyright terms: free use provided the ECB is cited as the source, the data are reproduced accurately, and any modification (such as a spread or a real rate computed by Eco3min) is stated explicitly. Eco3min cannot sub-license it under Creative Commons: anyone reusing this file remains bound by the ECB terms, not by CC BY. Full terms.