U.S. Department of the Treasury

Office of Public Affairs

Press Release: Embargoed for 4 p.m. EST, February 28, 2020

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

Preliminary Report on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities at End-June 2019

Washington – - Preliminary data from the June 2019 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/shlreports.aspx. Final 

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

preliminary data, will be reported on April 30, 2020. 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 2020;

preliminary data are expected to be released by February 26, 2021.

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 2019, are 

currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported by August 31, 2020.

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured the value of foreign holdings of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2019, to be 

$20,858 billion, with $8,899 billion held in U.S. equities, $11,035 billion held in U.S. long-term 

debt securities [1] (of which $1,447 billion are holdings of asset-backed securities (ABS) [2] and 

$9,589 billion are holdings of non-ABS securities), and $924 billion held in U.S. short-term debt 

securities. The previous survey, conducted as of June 30, 2018, measured the value of total 

foreign holdings of U.S. securities at $19,400 billion, with holdings of $8,139 billion in U.S. 

equities, $10,282 billion in U.S. long-term debt securities, and $980 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, 2018 June 30, 2019

Long-term securities 18,421 19,935

 Equities 8,139 8,899

 Long-term debt 10,282 11,035

 Asset-backed 1,317 1,447

 Other 8,965 9,589

Short-term debt securities 980 924

Total 19,400 20,858

Of which: Official 5,794 6,116

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, 2019

(Billions of dollars)

Total Equities Long-term debt Short

ABS Other -term

1 Japan 2,360 652 337 1,310 62

2 Cayman Islands 1,881 1,087 124 571 99

3 United Kingdom 1,856 1,078 22 695 61

4 Luxembourg 1,629 663 84 791 91

5 China, mainland (2) 1,544 190 225 1,125 4

6 Canada 1,262 956 35 254 16

7 Ireland 1,085 456 73 448 109

8 Switzerland 823 450 29 303 41

9 Belgium 781 58 11 685 27

10 Taiwan 627 68 267 288 4

11 Norway 452 309 * 143 1

12 Netherlands 422 285 17 116 3

13 Singapore 415 232 7 164 12

14 Germany 398 193 19 176 11

15 Hong Kong 397 110 13 244 30

16 France 373 177 8 169 20

17 Korea, South 366 153 37 169 7

18 Bermuda 350 111 53 160 26

19 Australia 345 263 8 66 8

20 Brazil 322 5 * 313 3

21 Kuwait 290 197 8 57 27

22 Saudi Arabia 289 93 6 143 46

23 Sweden 236 180 1 55 1

24 Denmark 202 164 1 37 1

25 British Virgin Islands 178 112 3 49 14

Rest of world 1,974 658 59 1,059 199

Total 20,858 8,899 1,447 9,589 924

of which: Foreign official 

institutions

6,116 1,117 641 4,039 318

* Less than $500 million but more than zero.

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