TG-270: PRELIMINARY ANNUAL REPORT ON U.S. HOLDING OF FOREIGN SECURITIES

August 31, 2009
TG-270

PRELIMINARY ANNUAL REPORT ON U.S. HOLDING OF FOREIGN SECURITIES

EMBARGOED UNTIL 4:00 PM EDT, August 31, 2009
CONTACT: Treasury Public Affairs (202) 622-2960

WASHINGTON – Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2008 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at http://www.treas.gov/tic/fpis.html. Final survey results, which will include additional detail as well as revisions to the data, will be reported on October 30, 2009.

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 holdings of U.S. securities also is conducted annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held on June 30, 2009, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 26, 2010.

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured U.S. holdings at year-end 2008 of approximately $4.3 trillion, with $2.7 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.3 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.3 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2007, measured U.S. holdings of $7.2 trillion, with $5.2 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.6 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.

Table 1. U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by type of security, as of survey dates[1]
(Billions of dollars)

Type of Security

Dec. 31, 2007

Dec. 31, 2008

Long-term Securities

6,855

4,009

Equity

5,248

2,748

Long-term debt

1,607

1,261

Short-term debt securities

357

282

Total

7,212

4,291

U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country

Table 2. U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by country of issuer and type of security, for the countries attracting the most U.S. portfolio investment, as of December 31, 2008
(Billions of dollars, except as noted)

	Country or region	Total	Equity	Long-Term Debt	Short-Term Debt
1	United Kingdom	647	377	185	85
2	Japan	403	348	54	2
3	Canada	378	180	166	32
4	Cayman Islands	315	95	202	18
5	France	285	212	58	15
6	Germany	255	160	80	15
7	Switzerland	218	214	4	*
8	Netherlands	169	77	75	18
9	Bermuda	163	143	19	1
10	Australia	146	65	71	9
11	Spain	93	63	25	5
12	Brazil	91	72	19	*
13	Mexico	65	46	19	*
14	Hong Kong	65	61	3	*
15	Ireland	63	22	23	18
16	Italy	62	47	13	1
17	Luxembourg	60	16	37	8
18	Sweden	59	30	20	9
19	Korea, South	56	45	10	*
20	China, Mainland	55	53	2	*
21	Israel	46	31	15	*
22	Taiwan	41	41	*	0
23	Finland	41	36	3	3
24	Netherlands Antilles	38	37	1	*
25	Jersey	37	11	8	19
	Rest of world	437	264	148	24
	Total	4,291	2,748	1,261	282

* Greater than zero, but less than $500 million

[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2008 reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2007, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury's transactions reporting system. The final report on U.S. holdings of foreign securities as of end-year 2008 will contain an analysis of the relation between the stock and flow data.