(Archived Content)
TG-340
WASHINGTON – The findings from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2008 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at ( http://www.treas.gov/tic/fpis.html).
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 portfolio holdings of U.S. securities also is conducted annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held on June 30, 2009, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 26, 2010.
Overall Results
The survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings at year-end 2008 of approximately $4.3 trillion, with $2.7 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.3 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.3 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2007, measured U.S. portfolio holdings of $7.2 trillion, with $5.2 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. The decrease in the value of U.S. portfolio holdings between the two surveys primarily reflects valuation changes in foreign equities during 2008.
U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2008 were the largest for the United Kingdom ($647 billion), followed by Japan ($403 billion) and Canada ($378 billion) (see Table 2). These three countries attracted one-third of the total U.S. portfolio investment.
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 | Dec. 31, 2007 revised | Dec. 31, 2008 |
|
|
|
Long-term Securities | 6,863 | 4,009 |
Equity | 5,253 | 2,748 |
Long-term debt | 1,610 | 1,261 |
Short-term debt securities | 357 | 282 |
|
|
|
Total | 7,220 | 4,291 |
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, 2008
(Billions of dollars, except as noted)
| Country or region | Total | Equity | Long-Term Debt | Short-Term Debt |
1 | United Kingdom | 647 | 377 | 185 | 85 |
2 | Japan | 403 | 348 | 54 | 2 |
3 | Canada | 378 | 180 | 166 | 32 |
4 | Cayman Islands | 315 | 95 | 202 | 18 |
5 | France | 285 | 212 | 58 | 15 |
6 | Germany | 255 | 160 | 80 | 15 |
7 | Switzerland | 218 | 214 | 4 | * |
8 | Netherlands | 169 | 77 | 75 | 18 |
9 | Bermuda | 163 | 143 | 19 | 1 |
10 | Australia | 146 | 65 | 71 | 9 |
11 | Spain | 93 | 63 | 25 | 5 |
12 | Brazil | 91 | 72 | 19 | * |
13 | Mexico | 65 | 46 | 19 | * |
14 | Hong Kong | 65 | 61 | 3 | * |
15 | Ireland | 63 | 22 | 23 | 18 |
16 | Italy | 62 | 47 | 13 | 1 |
17 | Luxembourg | 60 | 16 | 37 | 8 |
18 | Sweden | 59 | 30 | 20 | 9 |
19 | Korea, South | 56 | 45 | 10 | * |
20 | China, Mainland | 55 | 53 | 2 | * |
21 | Israel | 46 | 31 | 15 | * |
22 | Taiwan | 41 | 41 | * | 0 |
23 | Finland | 41 | 36 | 3 | 3 |
24 | Netherlands Antilles | 38 | 37 | 1 | * |
25 | Jersey | 37 | 11 | 8 | 19 |
| Rest of world | 437 | 264 | 148 | 24 |
| Total | 4,291 | 2,748 | 1,261 | 282 |
* Greater than zero, but less than $500 million
[1] The stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2008 reported in this survey does not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2007, plus cumulative securities flows reported in the Treasury International Capital reporting system. An analysis of the relationship between the stock and flow data is available in Table 4 and the associated text of the final report on U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at end-year 2008.