KfW exceeds expectations for green bonds and is successfully progressing towards the digitalisation of its funding

• The planned funding volume for 2026 is set to rise to EUR 75–80 billion, of which up to EUR 15 billion in 'Green Bonds - Made by KfW’
• The EUR 100 billion mark in green issuance by KfW is expected to be passed in Q1 of 2026
• KfW provides impetus for the DLT-based financial market - 2026: Focus on standardisation with the aim of scaling and strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty

At its annual capital market press conference, KfW today outlined its plans for raising funds on the international capital markets, and other priorities of the Financial Markets department for the coming year.

Germany’s largest promotional bank expects the German economy to recover and is optimistic about 2026. To fund its business activities, it plans to raise a total of EUR 75 to 80 billion from the international capital markets. KfW will once again offer liquid products in a wide range of currencies to investors worldwide and continue its intensive dialogue with investors.

"We are ideally positioned to raise funds on the international capital markets to enable KfW’s customers to invest in their competitiveness, particularly through measures for climate and environmental action, as well as digitalisation and innovation. We appreciate the trust of investors and want to live up to this in 2026,"

explained Tim Armbruster, Treasurer at KfW Group.

Against the market trend - KfW exceeds expectations in the green bond segment and heads for the EUR 100 billion mark

KfW is attracting attention in the green bond market segment. With 18 green transactions in eight different currencies and an issue volume of around EUR 14 billion, it has raised approximately 40 per cent more debt capital through the issue of green bonds than was initially planned at the beginning of the year. Compared to the previous year, this volume represents an increase of around 14 per cent; KfW’s positive result for climate action distinguishes it from the general global market trend, which shows a downturn in green bond issues of around 6 per cent since the beginning of the year.

"The disbursements in the loan programmes and selected individual financing measures underlying our green bonds, along with the demand from the capital markets, indicate that both borrowers and institutional investors continue to invest heavily in climate and environmental action. At a time when there is often word of a declining interest in sustainable investments, we consider this result to be very encouraging,"

said Petra Wehlert, Head of Capital Markets at KfW.

KfW remains one of the most active and largest international issuers, especially in the green bond segment. In 2026, KfW will offer "Green Bonds - Made by KfW" in various currencies for an amount of up to EUR 15 billion. Provided market conditions are favourable, in the first quarter of 2026 the promotional bank is likely to exceed the EUR 100 billion mark in new issue volume since the introduction of its green bond framework in 2014. As of the end of November 2025, it had raised a total of around EUR 97 billion through 154 transactions in 14 currencies.

As an active issuer and investor, KfW provides impetus for the DLT-based financial market

The promotional bank is also focusing on the development of a robust European financial market based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). KfW is on a successful learning journey with regard to the digitalisation of its capital market activities. While 2022-24 was characterised by the issue of the first digital bonds under the German Electronic Securities Act (eWpG), this was followed in 2025 for the first time by three investments in DLT-based securities and two issues with digital central bank money in Swiss francs (CHF). With the publication of its Whitepaper: DLT-based capital market, established in collaboration with KPMG and involving numerous other project partners, KfW is also sharing its insights and thereby promoting the further development of the market.

KfW is also supporting the Regulated Layer One (RL1) initiative, a joint European project aimed at creating a pan-European infrastructure for digital assets, backed by various financial institutions. As an open and interoperable blockchain infrastructure, RL1 is designed not only to enhance the scalability potential of the DLT-based financial market, but also to make a significant contribution to strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty in line with the European Savings and Investment Union (SIU).

Focus 2026: Standardisation on the way to scalability

The promotional bank will continue to make progress on this learning path in 2026. For example, it is planning to issue its third DLT-based bond - this time with a particular focus on payment processing and strengthening interoperability, with the latter aiming to test the robustness of the DLT. Furthermore, KfW assesses the digitalisation and automation potential (so-called front-to-end digitalisation) throughout the entire life cycle of a security by, among other things, examining the potential applications of smart contracts. The lessons learned from the various initiatives will once again be shared transparently with the market to pave the way for a scalable DLT-based ecosystem.

KfW wants to actively contribute to shaping the digital financial market of tomorrow.

"I am convinced that we will achieve the necessary standardisation to unlock scalability potential through openness to innovation and intensive cooperation – across borders, sectors and technologies. In this way, we are strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty and resilience,"

explained Tim Armbruster.

Funding 2025: KfW offers investors high liquidity in various currencies and is the pricing reference for euro bonds in the SSA segment

KfW successfully managed its funding for the current year, amounting to approximately EUR 71 billion (as of 30 November 2025).

In an environment characterised by discontinuity due to political uncertainties, military conflicts and a weakening of the US dollar as the dominant currency, KfW is experiencing sustained high international demand from institutional investors. The strong confidence that these have in Germany’s largest promotional bank was reflected, for example, in exceptionally strong order books for EUR benchmark bonds. KfW is also the second largest issuer in the SSA segment after the EU with its large-volume benchmark bonds, some of which have been increased to up to EUR 8 billion. In this segment, KfW is also the benchmark for the pricing of euro bonds of other issuers. In total, KfW raised approximately EUR 41 billion on the capital markets through euro-denominated bonds.

KfW was also very successful in US dollar terms with a funding volume of USD 18.7 billion. For example, it issued a three-year USD benchmark bond with the lowest spread (range to comparable UST bonds) ever achieved by KfW in US dollars of +3.2 basis points.

KfW also impresses investors with its high currency diversification, particularly in light of the fact that international investors are seeking alternative currency reserves. In 2025, KfW offered its investors bonds in a total of ten different currencies. Alongside the core currencies, the euro and the US dollar, the pound sterling (GBP 6 billion) was the leading performer this year. In addition - somewhat surprisingly - the HKD emerged as a growing market segment, and after 15 years, KfW successfully re-entered the CHF market. KfW is also the largest foreign issuer of green bonds in Australian dollars, known as “green kangaroos”.

Service:

• Facts and figures about KfW’s funding are available here.
• All the information about Green Bonds - Made by KfW is available here.
• Click here for the explanatory notes on the digitalisation of KfW’s Financial Markets department

You can find the digital press materials here:

Press Briefing (only available in english) (PDF, 1 MB, non-accessible)

Annex to KfW‘s Press Release from December 9th, 2025 on Capital Markets Activities 2025/26(PDF, 852 KB, non-accessible)