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The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
A complementary survey measuring foreign holdings of U.S. securities is also conducted annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held at end-June 2014, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 27, 2015.
Overall Results
This survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2013 as approximately $9.1 trillion, with $6.5 trillion held in foreign equity, $2.3 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2012, measured U.S. holdings of approximately $8.0 trillion, with $5.3 trillion held in foreign equity, $2.3 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The largest gain occurred in equities, reflecting gains in global stock markets.
U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2013 were the largest for the United Kingdom ($1.344 trillion), followed by the Cayman Islands ($901 billion), Canada ($826 billion), and Japan ($686 billion) (see Table 2). These four countries attracted 41 percent of total U.S. portfolio investment.
The surveys are part of an internationally coordinated effort under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve the measurement of portfolio asset holdings.
Table 1. U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by type of security, as of survey dates [1]
(Billions of dollars)
Type of Security | Dec. 31, 2012 | Dec. 31, 2013 |
| | |
Long-term Securities | 7,593 | 8,777 |
Equity | 5,322 | 6,473 |
Long-term debt | 2,271 | 2,305 |
Short-term debt securities | 365 | 353 |
| | |
Total | 7,958 | 9,130 |
| | |
U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country
Table 2. Market value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by country and type of security, for the countries attracting the most U.S. investment, as of December 31, 2013 [1]
(Billions of dollars) |
Country or category | Total | Equity | Debt |
Total | Long-term | Short-term |
United Kingdom | 1,344 | 978 | 366 | 294 | 72 |
Cayman Islands | 901 | 677 | 224 | 221 | 3 |
Canada | 826 | 405 | 421 | 382 | 39 |
Japan | 686 | 604 | 82 | 69 | 13 |
France | 466 | 343 | 123 | 104 | 19 |
Switzerland | 443 | 430 | 13 | 9 | 4 |
Germany | 391 | 302 | 89 | 74 | 15 |
Netherlands | 386 | 230 | 156 | 139 | 17 |
Australia | 338 | 144 | 194 | 141 | 53 |
Ireland | 281 | 228 | 53 | 51 | 1 |
Bermuda | 211 | 179 | 32 | 32 | * |
Korea, South | 183 | 147 | 36 | 34 | 1 |
Brazil | 180 | 129 | 51 | 51 | * |
Sweden | 165 | 88 | 77 | 43 | 34 |
Mexico | 154 | 71 | 83 | 74 | 9 |
Rest of world | 2,176 | 1,518 | 658 | 587 | 71 |
Total | 9,130 | 6,473 | 2,658 | 2.305 | 353 |
* Greater than zero but less than $500 million.
[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2013, reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2012, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury’s transactions reporting system. An analysis of the relationship between the stock and flow data is available in Table 4 and the associated text of the “Report on U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities” at end-year 2013.
