U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT 

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 

EMBARGOED UNTIL 4 p.m. (EDT), February 27, 2009 

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

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON 

FOREIGN HOLDINGS OF U.S. SECURITIES 

AT END-JUNE 2008 

Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Treasury today released preliminary data from a survey of 

foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities at end-June 2008 on the U.S. Treasury web site at 

http://www.treas.gov/tic/fpis.html. A revised table on Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities, 

where estimates through end-December 2008 are based in part on survey data, is also released at 

http://www.treas.gov/tic/ticsec2.html (on line 1 of Part A). Final survey results, which will include 

additional detail as well as possible revisions to the preliminary data, will be reported on April 30, 

2009. The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New 

York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The next survey will be for endJune 2009, and preliminary data are expected to be released by February 26, 2010. 

Complementary surveys measuring U.S. holdings of foreign securities are also carried out annually. 

Data from the most recent survey, reporting on securities held on year-end 2008, are currently being 

processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported by August 31, 2009. 

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured foreign holdings of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2008, to be $10,324 billion, 

with $2,969 billion held in U.S. equities, $6,494 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities1

 (of which 

$1,532 billion are holdings of asset-backed securities (ABS) 2 and $4,962 billion are holdings of nonABS securities), and $861 billion held in U.S. short-term debt securities. The previous survey, 

conducted as of June 30, 2007, measured total foreign holdings of U.S. securities at $9,772 billion, 

with holdings of $3,130 billion in U.S. equities, $6,007 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities, and 

$635 billion in short-term U.S. debt securities (see Table 1). 

1. Long-term debt securities have an original term-to-maturity of more than 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. 
2

 

Table 1. Foreign holdings of U.S. securities, by type of security, as of recent survey dates

(Billions of dollars) 

Type of Security June 30, 2007 June 30, 2008

Long-term Securities 9,136 9,463 

 Equity 3,130 2,969 

 Long-term debt 6,007 6,494 

 Asset-backed 1,472 1,532 

 Other 4,535 4,962 

Short-term debt securities 635 861 

Total 9,772 10,324 

Of which: Official 2,823 3,493 

Table 2. 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, 2008 

(Billions of dollars) 

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

ABS Other debt

1 Japan 1,250 199 163 823 66 

2 China (Mainland)1 1,205 100 376 700 30 

3 United Kingdom 864 376 90 375 24 

4 Cayman Islands 832 317 230 227 58 

5 Luxembourg 657 191 81 315 71 

6 Canada 456 20 74 357 5 

7 Belgium 441 321 17 86 17 

8 Ireland 401 75 76 113 136 

9 Switzerland 391 141 30 143 77 

10 Netherlands 314 162 25 107 21 

11 Middle East Oil Exporters2 312 188 45 70 9 

12 Germany 247 71 49 117 10 

13 Bermuda 223 * * 139 84 

14 France 222 133 28 47 14 

15 Singapore 210 52 59 77 21 

16 Australia 162 2 * 159 1 

17 Russia 160 94 13 49 5 

18 Korea, South 150 11 37 100 2 

19 Hong Kong 147 29 19 83 17 

20 Taiwan 137 81 9 41 7 

21 Norway 133 18 2 96 17 

22 British Virgin Islands 131 8 24 89 10 

23 Mexico 127 76 25 24 1 

24 Brazil 107 53 3 34 17 

25 Sweden 88 53 1 32 3 

 Country Unknown 185 1 * 183 1 

Rest of the World 772 200 59 378 135 

Total 10,324 2,969 1,532 4,962 861 

 of which: Official 3,493 363 475 2,281 373 

1. Excludes Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, which are reported separately. 

2. Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.