Preliminary Annual Report on U.S. Holdings of Foreign Securities at Year-End 2020

Washington – Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2020 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at (https://home.treasury.gov/data/treasury-international-capital-tic-system/tic-forms-instructions/us-claims-on-foreigners-from-holdings-of-foreign-securities). The final survey report, which will include additional detail as well as possible revisions to the data, will be released on October 29, 2021.

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, 2021, are currently being processed.  Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 28, 2022.

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured the value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2020 at approximately $14.4 trillion, with $10.6 trillion held in foreign equities, $3.4 trillion held 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 2019, measured the value of U.S. holdings at $13.1 trillion, with $9.5 trillion held in foreign equities, $3.1 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.5 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.

Press release for end of August

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, 2019

Dec. 31, 2020

Long-term securities

12,617

13,993

       Equity

9,478

10,614

       Long-term debt

3,139

3,378

Short-term debt securities

470

400

Total

13,087

14,392

 

 

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, 2020

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

 

       

Total

 

Equity

 

Long-term Debt

 

Short-term Debt

1

 

Cayman Islands

 

2,567

 

2,026

 

533

 

7

2

 

United Kingdom

 

1,393

 

920

 

433

 

40

3

 

Japan

 

1,296

 

1,013

 

182

 

102

4

 

Canada

 

1,168

 

683

 

412

 

73

5

 

France

 

698

 

479

 

187

 

32

6

 

Ireland

 

698

 

608

 

80

 

10

7

 

Switzerland

 

634

 

590

 

43

 

1

8

 

Netherlands

 

629

 

423

 

197

 

9

9

 

Germany

 

535

 

422

 

92

 

20

10

 

Australia

 

378

 

227

 

126

 

25

11

 

Taiwan

 

304

 

304

 

*

 

0

12

 

Korea, South

 

300

 

277

 

22

 

1

13

 

China, mainland (1)

 

287

 

251

 

34

 

2

14

 

Bermuda

 

283

 

240

 

44

 

*

15

 

India

 

234

 

223

 

11

 

*

16

 

Sweden

 

197

 

155

 

28

 

14

17

 

Luxembourg

 

197

 

129

 

63

 

5

18

 

Brazil

 

169

 

144

 

24

 

*

19

 

Hong Kong

 

166

 

158

 

7

 

1

20

 

Spain

 

163

 

113

 

47

 

2

21

 

Denmark

 

158

 

139

 

16

 

3

22

 

Mexico

 

153

 

64

 

88

 

1

23

 

Italy

 

148

 

96

 

51

 

*

24

 

Jersey

 

138

 

126

 

10

 

1

25

 

International organizations

 

119

 

*

 

108

 

11

26

 

Israel

 

94

 

71

 

23

 

*

27

 

Singapore

 

92

 

58

 

12

 

22

28

 

South Africa

 

79

 

65

 

14

 

*

29

 

Russia

 

74

 

57

 

17

 

0

30

 

Norway

 

72

 

37

 

30

 

5

   

Rest of world

 

969

 

513

 

443

 

13

   

Total

 

14,392

 

10,614

 

3,378

 

400

 

* Greater than zero, but less than $500 million. (1) China excludes Hong Kong and Macau, which are reported separately.

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