2012 has been a very slow year for financial deal-making, according to data released today by Thomson Reuters.
There has been just $352 million in global M&A activity so far, which is off 16% from this time last year. Taking a particularly steep hit have been U.S. deals, which are off 60%. The only tracked countries with increased activity have been Germany (+120%), Brazil (+66%) and China (+2%).
Global private equity deal-making, which is factored into the broader M&A data, declined 22% year-over-year, with just $31.5 billion for 604 deals. Geographically, only Germany and the Africa region showed gains.
Materials have generated the most M&A activity so far in 2012 ($93.8 billion), followed by energy/power ($56.5 billion) and financials (36.3 billion).
Goldman Sachs (GS) sits atop the M&A league tables, after having places fourth at this time in 2011. J.P. Morgan (JPM) and Barclays Capital (BCS) are in second and third place. Last year’s leader, Morgan Stanley (MS) is in the sixth spot.
Get Dan’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com