Germany central bank rate rises to 2.5% in September 2026

Germany's central bank policy rate was 2.5% in September 2026, according to the Deutsche Bundesbank. That is 0.25 percentage points higher than the August 2026 level of 2.25%, based on Housing Market Group calculations from Bundesbank figures. The rate is a key reference point for borrowing costs across the economy, including the cost of financing a home, so movements in it are closely watched by buyers, owners and lenders alike.

The September reading continues an upward path visible in recent months. Bundesbank figures show the rate at 2.0% in May 2026, before it moved to 2.25% in June 2026. It then held at 2.25% in July 2026 and again in August 2026, before stepping up to the current 2.5% in September. Over a longer horizon, the rate was 2.0% in September 2025, which means it is 0.5 percentage points higher than a year earlier, according to HMG calculations from Bundesbank data.

Placed alongside other countries tracked in HMG's data set, Germany's rate sits toward the lower end of the range in September 2026. Spain recorded the same level of 2.5%, according to the Banco de España, and its rate also rose by 0.5 percentage points over the year to September 2026, matching Germany's increase. Canada's rate was slightly lower at 2.25%, according to the Bank of Canada, after falling 0.25 percentage points over the same period. The United Kingdom's rate stood at 3.75%, according to the Bank of England, also down 0.25 percentage points on a year earlier.

Further afield, rates were considerably higher. Australia's policy rate was 4.6% in September 2026, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia, having risen by 1 percentage point over the year, the largest annual increase among the countries compared here. Indonesia's rate was 5.75% in September 2026, according to Bank Indonesia. Brazil had by far the highest level at 13.75%, according to the Bank for International Settlements, although its rate fell by 1.25 percentage points compared with September 2025.

Ranked by the change over the year to September 2026, Germany placed 3 of 6 among the countries in this comparison, according to HMG calculations, where the highest increase ranks first and falls count as negative changes. In practice this places Germany in a group with Spain and Australia, where rates have moved up over the year, while Canada, the United Kingdom and Brazil saw their rates ease over the same period.

Taken together, the figures show that Germany's policy rate in September 2026 is at its highest point in the period covered by this data, having climbed from 2.0% in both September 2025 and May 2026. Even so, the level remains well below the rates recorded in the United Kingdom, Australia, Indonesia and Brazil, and is on a par with Spain.