Press Releases

Preliminary Annual Report on U.S. Holdings of Foreign Securities

(Archived Content)

WASHINGTON – Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2010 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at link. Final survey results, which will include additional detail as well as revisions to the data, will be reported on October 31, 2011.   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, 2011, are currently being processed.  Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 29, 2012.   Overall Preliminary Results   The survey measured the value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2010 of approximately $6.8 trillion, with $4.6 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.7 trillion 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 2009, measured the value of U.S. holdings of $6.0 trillion, with $4.0 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.6 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.   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, 2009
Dec. 31, 2010
 
 
 
Long-term Securities
5,589
6,362
                Equity
3,995
4,647
                Long-term debt
1,594
1,715
Short-term debt securities
387
402
 
 
 
Total
5,977
6,763
  U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country   Table 2.  U.S. 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, 2010 (Billions of dollars, except as noted)  
 
Country or region
         Total
        Equity
Long-Term Debt
Short-Term Debt
1
United Kingdom
1,002
626
253
123
2
Canada
695
409
253
34
3
Japan
519
450
47
22
4
France
366
244
82
40
5
Cayman Islands
366
166
196
3
6
Switzerland
327
319
6
2
7
Australia
323
150
123
51
8
Germany
299
207
74
18
9
Brazil
235
194
41
1
10
Netherlands
233
120
103
9
11
Bermuda
160
134
25
*
12
Korea, South
148
122
25
1
13
Hong Kong
135
133
2
*
14
Ireland
132
101
27
3
15
Sweden
122
63
30
29
16
Mexico
109
77
32
*
17
China, Mainland
102
101
2
*
18
Luxembourg
100
33
65
3
19
Taiwan
95
94
*
0
20
India
91
86
4
1
21
Spain
87
66
21
*
22
Netherlands Antilles
83
82
1
0
23
South Africa
78
70
8
0
24
Italy
66
51
14
*
25
Singapore
64
56
7
*
26
Israel
64
45
17
2
 
Rest of world
762
446
257
59
 
Total
6,763
4,647
1,715
402
  * Greater than zero, but less than $500 million
[1]   The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2010, reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2009, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury's transactions reporting system.  The final report on U.S. holdings of foreign securities as of end-year 2010 will contain an analysis of the relation between the stock and flow data.