Press Releases

Preliminary Annual Report on U.S. Holdings of Foreign Securities at Year-End 2017

Washington – Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2017 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at (https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/fpis.aspx). The final survey report, which will include additional detail as well as possible revisions to the data, will be released on October 31, 2018.

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 also is conducted annually.  Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held on June 30, 2018, are currently being processed.  Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 28, 2019.

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured the value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2017 at approximately $12.4 trillion, with $9.1 trillion held in foreign equities, $2.8 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 2016, measured the value of U.S. holdings at $9.9 trillion, with $7.1 trillion held in foreign equities, $2.4 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.3 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.

Table 1.  U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities, by type of security, as of survey dates

(Billions of dollars)

 

Type of Security

Dec. 31, 2016

Dec. 31, 2017

Long-term securities

9,583

11,953

      Equity

7,146

9,119

      Long-term debt

2,436

2,835

Short-term debt securities

   308

   456

Total

9,891

12,409

 

Table 2.  U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities, by country of issuer and type of security, for the countries attracting the most U.S. portfolio investment, as of December 31, 2017

(Market value, billions of dollars, except as noted)

 

   

Total

Equity

Long-term  Debt

Short-term  Debt

1

Cayman Islands

1,767

1,362

403

2

2

United Kingdom

1,473

1,091

336

46

3

Japan

1,132

902

123

107

4

Canada

996

512

381

102

5

France

605

442

134

29

6

Netherlands

538

345

185

8

7

Switzerland

506

477

26

2

8

Ireland

495

421

70

4

9

Germany

494

400

83

11

10

Australia

355

197

114

44

11

Bermuda

263

229

34

*

12

Korea, South

263

242

20

1

13

India

194

181

13

1

14

Brazil

182

148

34

*

15

Taiwan

178

178

*

0

16

Sweden

172

107

43

23

17

Singapore

171

143

11

17

18

Hong Kong

164

155

4

4

19

Mexico

163

67

94

2

20

China, mainland (1)

162

158

3

1

21

Spain

158

125

31

2

22

Luxembourg

146

72

71

3

23

Italy

140

97

41

2

24

Jersey

123

108

15

1

25

South Africa

115

101

14

*

26

Denmark

110

85

25

*

27

International organizations

91

*

82

9

28

Indonesia

73

40

33

0

29

Curaçao

73

70

3

*

30

Belgium

72

56

9

8

31

Rest of world

1,033

607

400

26

 

Total

12,409

9,119

2,835

456

 

* Greater than zero, but less than $500 million. (1) China excludes Hong Kong and Macau, which are reported separately. (2) Before the 2013 survey, Curaçao was reported as part of the Netherlands Antilles.