U.S. Department of the Treasury

Office of Public Affairs

Press Release: Embargoed for 4 p.m. EST, February 28, 2019

Contact: Treasury Public Affairs, (202) 622-2960 

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

Washington – Preliminary data from the June 2018 benchmark survey of foreign portfolio 

holdings of U.S. securities were released today on the Treasury website at

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/fpis.aspx. Final survey 

results, which will include additional detail as well as possible revisions to the preliminary data, 

will be reported on April 30, 2019. 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 annual 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.

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured the value of foreign holdings of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2018, to be 

$19,434 billion, with $8,156 billion held in U.S. equities, $10,290 billion held in U.S. long-term 

debt securities [1] (of which $1,312 billion are holdings of asset-backed securities (ABS) [2] and 

$8,978 billion are holdings of non-ABS securities), and $987 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 recent survey dates

(Billions of dollars)

Type of security June 30, 2017 June 30, 2018

Long-term securities 17,481 18,447

 Equities 7,189 8,156

 Long-term debt 10,292 10,290

 Asset-backed 1,262 1,312

 Other 9,030 8,978

Short-term debt securities 930 987

Total 18,412 19,434

Of which: Official 5,575 5,796

Table B. Foreign holdings of U.S. securities, by country and type of security,

for the major investing countries into the U.S., as of June 30, 2018

(Billions of dollars)

Total Equities Long-term debt Short

ABS Other -term

1 Japan 2,044 544 265 1,171 65

2 Cayman Islands 1,763 1,040 129 479 115

3 China, mainland [i] 1,607 217 180 1,206 5

4 United Kingdom 1,606 926 28 605 48

5 Luxembourg 1,496 618 77 697 104

6 Canada 1,212 930 32 231 19

7 Ireland 1,153 394 83 542 135

8 Switzerland 813 452 18 313 30

9 Belgium 739 54 11 643 31

10 Taiwan 577 65 251 258 2

11 Germany 457 240 22 188 7

12 Netherlands 414 282 14 109 9

13 Norway 370 277 * 92 1

14 Hong Kong 364 113 12 198 42

15 Singapore 353 180 6 156 10

16 France 329 167 9 135 18

17 Bermuda 317 102 49 144 21

18 Korea, South 316 125 35 139 17

19 Brazil 310 6 * 297 8

20 Australia 304 223 7 62 10

21 Kuwait 270 185 5 55 24

22 Saudi Arabia 233 57 4 117 54

23 Sweden 216 164 1 52 *

24 British Virgin Islands 176 115 3 46 13

25 United Arab Emirates 156 89 1 56 10

Rest of world 1,838 591 73 987 188

Total 19,434 8,156 1,312 8,978 987

of which: Foreign official 

institutions

5,796 1,042 560 3,826 368

* Less than $500 million but more than zero.

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