Press Releases

Report on Foreign Portfolio Holdings of U.S. Securities at End-June 2018

Washington – The final results from the annual survey of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities at the end of June 2018 were released today on the Treasury website at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/fpis.aspx. 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 2019; preliminary data are expected to be released by February 28, 2020.

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 2018, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported by August 30, 2019.

The survey measured the value of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2018, to be $19,400 billion, with $8,139 billion held in U.S. equities, $10,282 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities [/1] (of which $1,317 billion are holdings of asset-backed securities (ABS) [/2] and $8,965 billion are holdings of non-ABS securities), and $980 billion held in U.S. short-term debt securities. The previous survey, conducted as of June 30, 2017, measured the value of total foreign holdings of U.S. securities at $18,412 billion, with holdings of $7,189 billion in U.S. equities, $10,292 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities, and $930 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.

 

 

 

Table A.  Foreign holdings of U.S. securities,

by type of security, as of selected survey dates

(Billions of dollars)

 

June 30, 2017

June 30, 2018

Long-term securities

17,481

18,421

Equities

7,189

8,139

Long-term debt

10,292

10,282

Asset-backed

1,262

1,317

Other

9,029

8,965

Short-term debt

securities

930

980

Total

18,412

19,400

Of which:

Official

5,575

5,794

 

 

 

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, 2018
(Billions of dollars)
Country or categoryTotalEquitiesLong-term debtShort-term debt
    TreasuryAgencyCorporate
1Japan2,04454397025820865
2Cayman Islands1,7571,0388631487115
3China, mainland [i]1,6072171,188181175
4United Kingdom1,5989242291139045
5Luxembourg1,49461716936568103
6Canada1,21092887517119
7Ireland1,14939324747328134
8Switzerland8134522061211330
9Belgium73954138451231
10Taiwan57765161250992
11Germany4562396431427
12Netherlands4132804112709
13Norway370277490431
14Hong Kong364113154124442
15Singapore35318011644110
16France3291667656418
17Bermuda317102432812321
18Korea, South31612594443617
19Brazil3106294218
20Australia3032233143510
21Kuwait2691853951723
22Saudi Arabia233571103854
23Sweden21616446070
24British Virgin Islands1751142522213
25United Arab Emirates15689491710
Other1,83458775565240187
Total19,4008,1395,4671,0243,790980
 Of which: Official5,7941,0423,651579156366

 

* Less than $500 million but more than zero.

[i] Excludes Hong Kong and Macau, which are reported separately.