Press Releases

Report on U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities at End-Year 2019

Washington – The findings from the annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2019 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/shcreports.aspx

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 2020, are currently being processed.  Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 26, 2021.

Overall Results

This survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2019 as approximately $13.1 trillion, with $9.5  trillion held in foreign equity, $3.1 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.5 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.  The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2018, measured U.S. holdings of approximately $11.3 trillion, with $7.9 trillion held in foreign equity, $2.9 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.5 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.  The increase in 2019 was mainly in equity (see Table 1).

U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2019 were the largest for the Cayman Islands ($2.00 trillion), followed by the United Kingdom ($1.52 trillion), Japan ($1.15 trillion), and Canada ($1.10 trillion) (see Table 2).  These four countries attracted 44 percent of total U.S. portfolio investment, versus 45 percent the previous year.
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

December 31, 2018

December 31, 2019

 

 

 

Long-term Securities

10,793

12,617

            Equity

7,899

9,478

            Long-term debt

2,894

3,139

Short-term debt securities

502

470

Total

11,295

13,087

 

U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country

 

Table 2.  Market value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities, by country and type of security, for countries attracting the most U.S. investment, as of December 31, 2019 [1]

(Billions of dollars)

Country or category

Total

Equity

Debt

Total

Long-term

Short-term

Cayman Islands

2,000,801

1,501,486

499,315

494,479

4,836

United Kingdom

1,517,165

1,013,549

503,616

411,510

92,106

Japan

1,147,091

926,921

220,171

164,225

55,946

Canada

1,097,840

592,702

505,138

394,631

110,507

France

661,756

468,257

193,499

167,974

25,525

Ireland

647,745

560,508

87,237

78,236

9,001

Switzerland

596,729

551,901

44,828

42,195

2,633

Netherlands

572,862

370,537

202,324

188,336

13,988

Germany

467,164

380,907

86,257

70,437

15,820

Australia

366,041

201,612

164,429

120,589

43,840

Bermuda

274,844

239,412

35,431

35,397

34

Korea, South

231,202

211,615

19,588

19,354

234

China, mainland (1)

222,282

204,252

18,030

15,197

2,833

Taiwan

214,872

214,803

69

69

0

India

200,659

185,107

15,552

14,547

1,005

Brazil

197,708

168,530

29,178

28,624

554

Hong Kong

180,713

170,834

9,879

7,219

2,660

Spain

162,493

115,112

47,381

44,210

3,171

Luxembourg

156,693

81,251

75,442

71,923

3,519

Sweden

155,408

110,172

45,235

29,852

15,383

Rest of world

2,015,293

1,208,546

806,748

740,466

66,282

Total

13,087,361

9,478,014

3,609,347

3,139,470

469,877

*     Greater than zero but less than $500 million.

Items may not sum to totals due to rounding.

[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2019, reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2018, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury’s transactions reporting system.  An analysis of the relationship between the stock and flow data is available in Exhibit 4 and the associated text of “U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities as of End-December 2019.”

[2] China, Hong Kong, and Macau are all reported separately.