Markets Wired

Washington – The findings from the annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2023 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 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 occurs annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held at end-June 2024, are being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 28, 2025.

Overall Results

This survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2023 as approximately $15.3 trillion, with $11.5 trillion held in foreign equity, $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 2022, measured U.S. holdings of approximately $14.0 trillion, with $10.3 trillion held in foreign equity, $3.3 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.  The increase in U.S. holdings in 2023 was mainly in equity (see Table 1).

U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2023 were the largest for the Cayman Islands ($2.7 trillion), followed by the United Kingdom ($1.5 trillion), Canada ($1.4 trillion), and Japan ($1.2 trillion) (see Table 2).  These four countries attracted 44 percent of total U.S. portfolio investment, the same as the previous year.
This survey is part of the International Monetary Fund’s Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey, an effort 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	December 31, 2022	December 31, 2023
Long-term Securities	13,563	14,921
Equity	10,280	11,492
Long-term debt	3,283	3,429
Short-term debt securities	447	422
Total	14,009	15,343

Table 2. Market value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities, by country and type of security, for countries attracting the most U.S. investment, as of December 31, 2023 [2]

(Billions of dollars)

Country or category	Total	Equity	Debt
			Total	Long-term	Short-term
Cayman Islands	2,663	1,935	729	719	9
United Kingdom	1,490	1,061	429	382	47
Canada	1,390	839	550	451	100
Japan	1,218	991	227	184	43
Ireland	924	823	101	79	23
France	816	597	219	173	46
Netherlands	668	508	159	151	8
Switzerland	655	607	47	46	1
Germany	514	418	97	79	17
Australia	442	269	172	132	41
India	352	342	10	10	0
Taiwan	316	316	0	0	0
Bermuda	267	215	52	52	0
Korea, South	253	227	25	25	0
Luxembourg	238	172	65	61	4
Denmark	219	206	13	12	0
China, mainland [2]	217	202	15	15	0
Sweden	197	156	40	19	21
Jersey	192	145	47	47	0
Brazil	181	157	24	23	1
Rest of the world	2,133	1,304	829	768	61
Total	15,343	11,492	3,851	3,429	422

* Greater than zero but less than $500 million. Items may not sum to totals due to rounding.

[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2023, reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2022, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury’s transactions reporting system.  An analysis of the relationship between the stock and flow data is available in “U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities as of End-December 2023,” Table 2.

[2] China, Hong Kong, and Macau are all reported separately.