hp1125: Preliminary Annual Report on U.S. Holding of Foreign Securities

August 29, 2008
hp1125

Preliminary Annual Report on U.S. Holding of Foreign Securities

Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2007 are released today and posted on the U.S. 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 31, 2008.

The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Treasury Department, 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, 2008, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 27, 2009.

Overall Preliminary Results

The survey measured U.S. holdings at year-end 2007 of approximately $7.2 trillion, with $5.2 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.6 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2006, measured U.S. holdings of $6.0 trillion, with $4.3 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.3 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

(Billions of dollars)

Type of Security	Dec. 31, 2006	Dec. 31, 2007

Long-term Securities	5,623	6,855
Equity	4,329	5,248
Long-term debt	1,294	1,607
Short-term debt securities	368	357

Total	5,991	7,212

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, 2007

(Billions of dollars, except as noted)

	Country	Total	Equity	Long-Term Debt	Short-Term Debt
1	United Kingdom	1,142	715	286	141
2	Japan	594	529	60	4
3	Canada	586	379	185	22
4	Cayman Islands	544	232	271	41
5	France	448	348	83	17
6	Germany	426	329	89	8
7	Switzerland	288	281	4	3
8	Bermuda	273	256	17	*
9	Netherlands	235	154	76	5
10	Australia	223	138	73	11
11	Brazil	189	173	16	*
12	Spain	146	107	38	2
13	Korea, South	140	129	10	*
14	Ireland	132	49	50	33
15	Hong Kong	121	120	2	*
16	Italy	120	97	22	1
17	Sweden	112	57	29	26
18	Mexico	110	85	24	*
19	China²	97	96	1	*
20	Luxembourg	95	40	44	11
21	Finland	94	90	4	*
22	Netherlands Antilles	89	88	1	*
23	India	85	82	3	*
24	Taiwan	81	81	*	0
25	Russia	81	74	7	*
	Rest of world	761	519	211	30
	Total	7,212	5,248	1,607	357

The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2007 reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2006, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury's transactions reporting system. The final report on U.S. holdings of foreign securities as of end-year 2007 will contain an analysis of the relation between the stock and flow data.