The findings from the annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2022 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site here.
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 portfolio holdings of U.S. securities also occurs annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held at end-June 2023, are being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 29, 2024.
Overall Results
This survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2022 as approximately $14.0 trillion, with $10.3 trillion held in foreign equity, $3.3 trillion held 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 2021, measured U.S. holdings of approximately $16.3 trillion, with $12.1 trillion held in foreign equity, $3.7 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.6 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The decrease in U.S. holdings in 2022 was mainly in equity (see Table 1).
U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2022 were the largest for the Cayman Islands ($2.7 trillion), followed by the United Kingdom ($1.4 trillion), Canada ($1.2 trillion), and Japan ($1.1 trillion) (see Table 2). These four countries accounted for 46 percent of total U.S. portfolio investment, versus 44 percent the previous year.