Press Releases

Report On Foreign Portfolio Holdings Of U.S. Securities

WASHINGTON - The final results from the annual survey of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities at the end of June 2017 were released today on the Treasury website. The survey was undertaken jointly by Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The next survey will cover holdings at the end of June 2018; preliminary data are expected to be released by February 28, 2019.

Complementary surveys measuring U.S. holdings of foreign securities are also carried out annually. Data from the most recent survey, reporting on securities held at year-end 2017, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported by August 31, 2018.

The survey measured the value of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2017, to be $18,409 billion, with $7,189 billion held in U.S. equities, $10,290 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities [/1] (of which $1,262 billion are holdings of asset-backed securities (ABS) [/2] and $9,028 billion are holdings of non-ABS securities), and $930 billion held in U.S. short-term debt securities. The previous survey, conducted as of June 30, 2016, measured the value of total foreign holdings of U.S. securities at $17,139 billion, with holdings of $6,186 billion in U.S. equities, $10,044 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities, and $909 billion in U.S. short-term debt securities (see Table A).

[/1] Long-term debt securities have an original term-to-maturity of over one year.
[/2] Asset-backed securities are backed by pools of assets, such as pools of residential home mortgages or credit card receivables, which give the security owners claims against the cash flows generated by the underlying assets. Unlike most other debt securities, these securities generally repay both principal and interest on a regular basis, reducing the principal outstanding with each payment cycle.

2017 End June Report

 

Table A.  Foreign holdings of U.S. securities,
by type of security, as of selected survey dates
(Billions of dollars)

  June 30, 2016 June 30, 2017
Long-term securities 16,230 17,481
Equities 6,186 7,189
Long-term debt 10,044 10,292
Asset-backed 1,187 1,262
Other 8,957 9,029
Short-term debt securities 909 930
Total 17,139 18,412
Of which: Official 5,504 5,575

 

 

 

 

 

Table B. Foreign holdings of U.S. securities, by country and type of security,

for the major investing countries into the United States, as of June 30, 2017
(Billions of dollars)

Country or category Total Equities Long-term debt Short-term debt
        Treasury Agency Corporate
1 Japan 1,998 490 1,034 228 188 58
2 Cayman Islands 1,687 928 158 33 467 102
3 China, mainland [i] 1,541 194 1,144 183 16 3
4 United Kingdom 1,493 844 200 12 397 41
5 Luxembourg 1,398 532 174 31 566 95
6 Ireland 1,068 296 260 44 336 132
7 Canada 1,061 810 67 5 169 13
8 Switzerland 824 413 214 17 148 34
9 Belgium 691 38 85 5 578 15
10 Taiwan 565 56 183 227 96 4
11 Germany 427 208 64 6 144 5
12 Netherlands 398 254 45 12 72 15
13 Hong Kong 350 96 137 13 40 64
14 Singapore 348 167 102 5 57 16
15 Norway 340 239 53 * 47 1
16 Bermuda 318 95 46 27 126 24
17 France 292 154 57 3 62 16
18 Korea, South 282 102 90 47 32 10
19 Brazil 277 5 252 * 1 18
20 Australia 271 193 30 2 36 8
21 Kuwait 230 160 28 5 15 21
22 Saudi Arabia 202 46 100 5 8 42
23 Sweden 180 130 41 * 9 0
24 British Virgin Islands 166 112 22 1 19 11
25 United Arab Emirates 147 80 50 1 7 9
Other 1,860 549 830 65 242 174
Total 18,409 7,189 5,468 980 3,842 930
  Of which: Official 5,575 952 3,663 426 171 363

* Less than $500 million but more than zero.
[i] Excludes Hong Kong and Macau, which are reported separately.