A Look at the U.S. International Investment Position
First Quarter of 2023 and Annual Update
The U.S. net international investment position (IIP)—the difference between U.S. residents' foreign financial assets and liabilities—was −$16.75 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2023 (chart 1). Assets totaled $32.74 trillion, and liabilities were $49.49 trillion. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, the net investment position was −$16.17 trillion (revised). The net investment position and components of assets and liabilities are presented in table A.
The U.S. international investment position is a statistical balance sheet that presents the dollar value of U.S. external financial assets and liabilities. A negative net investment position represents a U.S. net liability to the rest of the world.
The −$577.9 billion change in the net investment position from the fourth quarter to the first quarter came from net financial transactions of −$307.9 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange-rate changes, of −$270.1 billion. Net other changes mostly reflected U.S. stock price increases that exceeded foreign stock price increases (table A).
U.S. assets increased by $1.11 trillion to a total of $32.74 trillion at the end of the first quarter, mostly reflecting increases in direct investment and portfolio investment assets that were partly offset by a decrease in financial derivatives.
Direct investment assets increased by $716.8 billion to $9.99 trillion, and portfolio investment assets increased by $583.1 billion to $14.66 trillion, driven mainly by foreign stock price increases that raised the market value of these assets. Financial derivatives decreased by $350.2 billion to $2.19 trillion, driven by decreases in single-currency interest rate contracts and foreign exchange contracts (chart 2).
Price changes, a component of other changes in position, drove the overall increase in U.S. assets (table A).
U.S. liabilities increased by $1.69 trillion to a total of $49.49 trillion at the end of the first quarter, mostly reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment liabilities that were partly offset by a decrease in financial derivatives.
Portfolio investment liabilities increased by $1.09 trillion to $25.85 trillion, and direct investment liabilities increased by $771.6 billion to $13.03 trillion, driven mainly by U.S. stock price increases that raised the market value of these liabilities. Financial derivatives decreased by $323.1 billion to $2.15 trillion, driven by decreases in single-currency interest rate contracts and foreign exchange contracts (chart 3).
Price changes, a component of other changes in position, drove the overall increase in U.S. liabilities (table A).
| Type of investment | End of quarter position, 2022:Q4 | Change in position in 2023:Q1 | End of quarter position, 2023:Q1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Attributable to: | ||||
| Financial transactions | Other changes in position1 | ||||
| U.S. net international investment position | −16,172.3 | −577.9 | −307.9 | −270.1 | −16,750.2 |
| Net position excluding financial derivatives | −16,241.8 | −550.8 | −306.1 | −244.7 | −16,792.6 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves, net2 | 69.5 | −27.1 | −1.7 | −25.4 | 42.4 |
| U.S. assets | 31,631.8 | 1,109.3 | (2) | (2) | 32,741.1 |
| Assets excluding financial derivatives | 29,088.5 | 1,459.5 | −41.1 | 1,500.5 | 30,548.0 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,543.3 | −350.2 | (2) | (2) | 2,193.1 |
| By functional category: | |||||
| Direct investment at market value | 9,277.0 | 716.8 | 119.4 | 597.4 | 9,993.8 |
| Equity | 8,077.0 | 696.4 | 92.6 | 603.8 | 8,773.4 |
| Debt instruments | 1,200.0 | 20.4 | 26.9 | −6.4 | 1,220.4 |
| Portfolio investment | 14,073.9 | 583.1 | −263.3 | 846.4 | 14,657.1 |
| Equity and investment fund shares | 10,306.0 | 502.1 | −275.0 | 777.1 | 10,808.1 |
| Debt securities | 3,768.0 | 81.0 | 11.7 | 69.4 | 3,849.0 |
| Short term | 488.0 | −7.0 | −7.2 | 0.2 | 481.0 |
| Long term | 3,280.0 | 88.0 | 18.9 | 69.1 | 3,368.1 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,543.3 | −350.2 | (2) | (2) | 2,193.1 |
| Over-the-counter contracts | 2,465.7 | −337.8 | (2) | (2) | 2,127.9 |
| Single-currency interest rate contracts | 1,860.8 | −223.1 | (2) | (2) | 1,637.7 |
| Foreign exchange contracts | 432.4 | −111.3 | (2) | (2) | 321.0 |
| Other contracts | 172.5 | −3.4 | (2) | (2) | 169.1 |
| Exchange-traded contracts | 77.7 | −12.4 | (2) | (2) | 65.3 |
| Other investment | 5,030.6 | 113.0 | 102.0 | 10.9 | 5,143.6 |
| Other equity | 73.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 73.7 |
| Currency and deposits | 2,234.4 | −48.2 | −56.1 | 7.9 | 2,186.3 |
| Loans | 2,682.7 | 163.3 | 160.3 | 3.0 | 2,846.1 |
| Insurance technical reserves | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Trade credit and advances | 40.0 | −2.5 | −2.5 | (*) | 37.6 |
| Reserve assets | 706.9 | 46.6 | 0.8 | 45.8 | 753.5 |
| Monetary gold | 474.3 | 43.4 | 0.0 | 43.4 | 517.7 |
| Special drawing rights | 160.5 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 163.2 |
| Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund | 35.0 | 0.2 | −0.2 | 0.4 | 35.1 |
| Other reserve assets | 37.1 | 0.3 | (*) | 0.3 | 37.4 |
| U.S. liabilities | 47,804.1 | 1,687.2 | (2) | (2) | 49,491.3 |
| Liabilities excluding financial derivatives | 45,330.3 | 2,010.3 | 265.1 | 1,745.2 | 47,340.6 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,473.8 | −323.1 | (2) | (2) | 2,150.7 |
| By functional category: | |||||
| Direct investment at market value | 12,262.7 | 771.6 | 118.4 | 653.2 | 13,034.3 |
| Equity | 10,477.3 | 782.5 | 114.1 | 668.5 | 11,259.8 |
| Debt instruments | 1,785.4 | −11.0 | 4.3 | −15.3 | 1,774.5 |
| Portfolio investment | 24,764.1 | 1,088.3 | 6.0 | 1,082.2 | 25,852.3 |
| Equity and investment fund shares | 12,054.2 | 734.9 | −102.8 | 837.6 | 12,789.1 |
| Debt securities | 12,709.9 | 353.4 | 108.8 | 244.6 | 13,063.3 |
| Short term | 1,252.0 | −7.4 | −7.5 | 0.1 | 1,244.6 |
| Long term | 11,457.8 | 360.8 | 116.3 | 244.5 | 11,818.6 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,473.8 | −323.1 | (2) | (2) | 2,150.7 |
| Over-the-counter contracts | 2,402.2 | −323.1 | (2) | (2) | 2,079.1 |
| Single-currency interest rate contracts | 1,791.0 | −202.7 | (2) | (2) | 1,588.3 |
| Foreign exchange contracts | 442.5 | −123.5 | (2) | (2) | 319.0 |
| Other contracts | 168.7 | 3.1 | (2) | (2) | 171.8 |
| Exchange-traded contracts | 71.6 | (*) | (2) | (2) | 71.6 |
| Other investment | 8,303.5 | 150.5 | 140.7 | 9.8 | 8,454.0 |
| Other equity | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Currency and deposits | 4,293.0 | 64.6 | 62.9 | 1.7 | 4,357.6 |
| Loans | 3,605.8 | 80.3 | 73.8 | 6.5 | 3,686.1 |
| Insurance technical reserves | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Trade credit and advances | 251.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | (*) | 255.8 |
| Special drawing rights allocations | 152.9 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 154.5 |
- n.a.
- Not available
- (*)
- Value between zero and +/− $50 million
- 0.0
- Transactions or other changes are possible but are zero for a given period.
- Disaggregation of other changes in position into price changes, exchange-rate changes, and other changes in volume and valuation is presented for annual statistics released in March and revised in June each year.
- Financial transactions and other changes in financial derivatives positions are available on a net basis; they are not separately available for U.S. assets and U.S. liabilities.
Note. The statistics on positions are presented in table 1.2 of the International Investment Position Accounts on the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) website. The statistics on financial transactions are not seasonally adjusted and are presented in table 1.2 of the International Transactions Accounts on BEA's website.
With this annual update of the IIP Accounts, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has incorporated newly available and revised source data for 2019–2022 (table B). A revision to portfolio investment liabilities at the end of 2021, which also affects the net investment position, reflects a significant series break in the monthly “Aggregate Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value Changes of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents” (SLT) report for December 2021.
The revision to portfolio liabilities described above caused significant downward revisions to the net IIP in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first and second quarters of 2022 (chart 4). The largest revision to the net IIP was a downward revision of $658.9 billion at yearend 2021 (chart 4 and table B). The annual update has not altered the direction of change of the net IIP.
For more information about revisions to financial transactions that impacted the IIP, see the Survey of Current Business article “Annual Update of the U.S. International Transactions Accounts.”
| Type of investment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previously published | Revised | Revision | Previously published | Revised | Revision | Previously published | Revised | Revision | Previously published | Revised | Revision | |
| U.S. net international investment position | −11,653.1 | −11,666.4 | −13.4 | −14,707.4 | −14,721.0 | −13.6 | −18,124.3 | −18,783.2 | −658.9 | −16,117.1 | −16,172.3 | −55.2 |
| Net position excluding financial derivatives | −11,673.2 | −11,686.6 | −13.4 | −14,700.7 | −14,714.3 | −13.6 | −18,144.2 | −18,805.2 | −661.0 | −16,186.6 | −16,241.8 | −55.2 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves, net | 20.2 | 20.2 | 0.0 | −6.7 | −6.7 | 0.0 | 19.9 | 22.1 | 2.2 | 69.5 | 69.5 | 0.0 |
| U.S. assets | 28,869.4 | 28,845.2 | −24.2 | 32,041.6 | 32,023.2 | −18.5 | 35,065.5 | 35,021.9 | −43.5 | 31,680.1 | 31,631.8 | −48.3 |
| Direct investment at market value | 8,692.2 | 8,668.8 | −23.3 | 9,366.7 | 9,349.4 | −17.3 | 10,970.6 | 10,925.5 | −45.1 | 9,324.2 | 9,277.0 | −47.2 |
| Portfolio investment | 13,124.2 | 13,124.2 | 0.0 | 14,399.3 | 14,399.3 | 0.0 | 16,309.3 | 16,313.9 | 4.7 | 14,068.7 | 14,073.9 | 5.2 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 1,790.4 | 1,790.4 | 0.0 | 2,546.0 | 2,546.0 | 0.0 | 1,987.5 | 1,983.0 | −4.5 | 2,543.3 | 2,543.3 | 0.0 |
| Other investment | 4,748.2 | 4,747.4 | −0.9 | 5,102.4 | 5,101.2 | −1.2 | 5,085.8 | 5,087.2 | 1.4 | 5,037.0 | 5,030.6 | −6.4 |
| Reserve assets | 514.4 | 514.4 | 0.0 | 627.3 | 627.3 | 0.0 | 712.3 | 712.3 | 0.0 | 706.9 | 706.9 | 0.0 |
| U.S. liabilities | 40,522.4 | 40,511.6 | −10.8 | 46,749.0 | 46,744.2 | −4.9 | 53,189.7 | 53,805.1 | 615.4 | 47,797.2 | 47,804.1 | 6.9 |
| Direct investment at market value | 10,465.5 | 10,454.7 | −10.8 | 11,897.4 | 11,875.6 | −21.8 | 14,813.0 | 14,882.6 | 69.6 | 12,187.2 | 12,262.7 | 75.6 |
| Portfolio investment | 21,763.6 | 21,763.6 | 0.0 | 25,171.9 | 25,171.9 | 0.0 | 28,480.1 | 28,971.6 | 491.5 | 24,816.7 | 24,764.1 | −52.6 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 1,770.3 | 1,770.3 | 0.0 | 2,552.7 | 2,552.7 | 0.0 | 1,967.6 | 1,960.9 | −6.7 | 2,473.8 | 2,473.8 | 0.0 |
| Other investment | 6,523.1 | 6,523.1 | (*) | 7,127.1 | 7,144.0 | 16.9 | 7,929.0 | 7,989.9 | 60.9 | 8,319.5 | 8,303.5 | −16.0 |
- (*)
- Value between zero and +/− $50 million
