U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

EMBARGOED FOR 4:00 PM EDT: April 30, 2013

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

REPORT ON FOREIGN PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF U.S. SECURITIES AT ENDJUNE 2012

WASHINGTON - The final results from the annual survey of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. 

securities at the end of June 2012 were released today on the Treasury website at 

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/fpis.aspx. 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 survey will cover holdings at the end of

June 2013; preliminary data are expected to be released by February 28, 2014.

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 2012, are 

currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported by August 30, 2013.

Overall Results

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

2012, to be $13,261 billion, with $4,237 billion held in U.S. equities, $8,213 billion in U.S. longterm debt securities [1] (of which $1,121 billion are holdings of asset-backed securities (ABS) 

[2] and $7,092 billion are holdings of non-ABS securities), and $811 billion held in U.S. shortterm debt securities. The previous survey, conducted as of June 30, 2011, measured the value of 

total foreign holdings of U.S. securities at $12,440 billion, with holdings of $3,830 billion in 

U.S. equities, $7,731 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities, and $878 billion in U.S. shortterm debt securities (see Table A). 

Revisions to the Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities Table

A revised table on Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities was also released (at 

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/ticsec2.aspx, on line 1 of 

Part A). Since January of 2012, data on foreign holdings of Treasury securities have been

collected monthly instead of annually and have been included in the Major Foreign Holders

table. The new data have improved the accuracy of country attribution for foreign holdings of 

Treasury securities by removing the “transactions bias” in the monthly estimates that, before 
2

2012, were based solely on monthly transactions data (see TIC FAQ #7 at: 

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Treasury-International-Capital/Pages/ticfaqs.aspx#q7). In past years, the accumulated monthly transactions bias was often large and 

often resulted in some sizable reallocations of holdings across countries when the data from the 

comprehensive annual June survey were released the following February. In the new Major 

Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities Table being released with this announcement, the 

revisions are minor. [3]

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. 

3. Data on holdings of long-term securities, as well as the table on Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities,

reflect foreign holdings of U.S. securities collected primarily on the basis of custodial data. These data help 

provide a window into foreign ownership of U.S. securities, but they cannot attribute holdings of U.S. securities 

with complete accuracy. For example, if a U.S. Treasury security purchased by a foreign resident is held in a 

custodial account in a third country, the true ownership of the security will not be reflected in the data. The 

custodial data will also not properly attribute U.S. Treasury securities managed by foreign private portfolio 

managers who invest on behalf of residents of other countries. In addition, foreign countries may hold dollars 

and other U.S. assets that are not captured in the TIC data. For these reasons, it is difficult to draw precise 

conclusions from TIC data about changes in the foreign holdings of U.S. financial assets by individual countries.

Table A. Foreign holdings of U.S. securities, 

by type of security, as of selected survey dates

(Billions of dollars)

June 30, 2011 June 30, 2012

Long-term securities 11,561 12,451

Equities 3,830 4,237

Long-term debt 7,731 8,213

Asset-backed 1,140 1,122

Other 6,591 7,092

Short-term debt securities 878 811

Total 12,440 13,261

Of which: Official 4,847 5,149
3

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, 2012

(Billions of dollars)

Country or category Total Equities Long-term debt Short-term 

ABS Other debt

Japan 1,835 314 200 1,259 63

China, mainland [i] 1,592 221 182 1,180 9

Cayman Islands 1,031 516 140 291 83

United Kingdom 1,008 495 39 451 22

Luxembourg 837 292 61 413 72

Canada 635 471 17 131 15

Switzerland 566 263 22 255 26

Middle East oil-exporters [ii] 489 226 10 161 91

Ireland 453 108 50 190 104

Belgium 447 22 29 386 11

Hong Kong 306 47 95 124 40

Bermuda 300 68 47 162 22

Taiwan 286 18 42 225 2

Brazil 252 4 * 239 9

Netherlands 251 151 27 70 3

Singapore 241 106 4 122 9

Germany 227 79 30 112 6

France 225 120 8 85 13

Norway 213 124 3 85 *

Russia 165 * * 159 5

Australia 161 112 4 38 7

Korea, South 148 24 46 73 5

British Virgin Islands 131 84 7 27 12

Mexico 122 23 5 83 11

Sweden 112 70 1 40 1

Country Unknown 89 * 1 87 *

Rest of world 1,140 277 51 642 170

Total 13,261 4,237 1,122 7,092 811

of which: Foreign Official 5,149 630 380 3,762 377

* Greater than zero but less than $500 million.

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

ii. Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Note: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.