Political relations are friendly and untroubled. Barbados is a close and reliable partner of Germany in multilateral bodies such as the United Nations and in international negotiations on climate change. At the early elections held on 19 January 2022, the governing Barbados Labour Party led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley again won all 30 parliamentary seats.

Bilateral economic relations with Barbados have not yet developed to any great degree. German holidaymakers are a considerable source of revenue for the country. A bilateral investment protection and promotion agreement has been in place since 2002. Other cooperation and trade accords exist within the framework of the agreements between the European Union and the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) states as well as between the EU and CARIFORUM (CARICOM member states plus the Dominican Republic). As the Caribbean country with the closest ties to the European Union, Barbados hopes that the EU’s new partnership agreement with the states of Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean (Post-Cotonou or Samoa Agreement) will bring a further intensification of relations with the EU.

In development cooperation, Barbados has indirect links with Germany through regional projects between Germany and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that focus on sustainable economic development, the promotion of renewable energy, adaptation to climate change and fostering biodiversity. German institutions such as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the International Centre for Migration and Development (CIM) work together with the following Barbados-based organisations: the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) and the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE).

Germany supports the CARICOM states in their efforts to combat the proliferation of small arms through the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap. Barbados benefits from the Federal Foreign Office’s Training for International Diplomats programme, with diplomats from the country regularly being invited to participate in its courses.