U.S. International Investment Position

Second Quarter 2019

By Elena L. Nguyen and Erin M. Whitaker  |  Volume 99, Number 10  |  October 16, 2019

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The U.S. net international investment position—the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities—was −$10.56 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2019 (chart 1). Assets totaled $28.01 trillion, and liabilities were $38.56 trillion. At the end of the first quarter, the net investment position was −$10.16 trillion.

The U.S. international investment position is a statistical balance sheet that presents the dollar value of U.S. external financial assets and liabilities at a specific point in time. A negative net investment position represents a U.S. net liability to the rest of the world.

The −$398.8 billion change in the net investment position from the first quarter to the second quarter came from net financial transactions of −$146.7 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange rate changes, of −$252.1 billion (table A).

Chart 1. U.S. Net International Investment Position

[Click chart to expand]

Table A. Quarterly Change in the U.S. Net International Investment Position
[Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted]
Type of investment Position, 2019:I Change in position in 2019:II Position, 2019:II
Total Attributable to:
Financial transactions Other changes in position1
U.S. net international investment position −10,156.7 −398.8 −146.7 −252.1 −10,555.4
Net position excluding financial derivatives −10,188.6 −382.7 −137.5 −245.2 −10,571.2
Financial derivatives other than reserves, net2 31.9 −16.1 −9.2 −6.9 15.8
U.S. assets 27,056.4 952.7 (2) (2) 28,009.2
Assets excluding financial derivatives 25,516.9 720.6 217.7 502.9 26,237.5
Financial derivatives other than reserves 1,539.5 232.1 (2) (2) 1,771.7
By functional category:          
Direct investment at market value 8,153.2 232.8 95.6 137.3 8,386.0
Equity 6,877.7 240.7 68.0 172.7 7,118.4
Debt instruments 1,275.5 −7.9 27.5 −35.4 1,267.6
Portfolio investment 12,311.7 366.4 38.2 328.3 12,678.1
Equity and investment fund shares 8,720.6 209.6 −27.9 237.5 8,930.1
Debt securities 3,591.1 156.9 66.1 90.8 3,748.0
Short term 671.0 24.2 23.1 1.1 695.2
Long term 2,920.1 132.7 43.0 89.7 3,052.8
Financial derivatives other than reserves 1,539.5 232.1 (2) (2) 1,771.7
Over-the-counter contracts 1,495.0 238.4 (2) (2) 1,733.4
Single-currency interest rate contracts 1,053.0 238.8 (2) (2) 1,291.8
Foreign exchange contracts 284.3 −3.3 (2) (2) 281.0
Other contracts 157.7 2.9 (2) (2) 160.6
Exchange-traded contracts 44.5 −6.3 (2) (2) 38.3
Other investment 4,600.4 87.4 81.6 5.8 4,687.8
Currency and deposits 1,870.6 64.2 61.2 3.0 1,934.8
Loans 2,679.3 23.9 21.2 2.7 2,703.3
Insurance technical reserves n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Trade credit and advances 50.4 −0.7 −0.8 (*) 49.7
Reserve assets 451.7 33.9 2.4 31.6 485.6
Monetary gold 337.7 30.7 0.0 30.7 368.5
Special drawing rights 50.8 0.1 0.1 0.1 50.9
Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund 22.1 2.3 2.2 (*) 24.4
Other reserve assets 41.1 0.8 0.1 0.7 41.9
U.S. liabilities 37,213.1 1,351.5 (2) (2) 38,564.6
Liabilities excluding financial derivatives 35,705.5 1,103.3 355.2 748.0 36,808.8
Financial derivatives other than reserves 1,507.6 248.3 (2) (2) 1,755.9
By functional category:          
Direct investment at market value 9,470.1 329.4 82.3 247.1 9,799.6
Equity 7,726.2 307.0 63.9 243.1 8,033.2
Debt instruments 1,743.9 22.5 18.4 4.1 1,766.4
Portfolio investment 19,954.7 665.3 167.5 497.8 20,620.0
Equity and investment fund shares 8,256.1 381.3 85.5 295.8 8,637.4
Debt securities 11,698.6 284.0 82.0 202.0 11,982.6
Short term 1,003.9 −80.6 −80.8 0.2 923.3
Long term 10,694.7 364.6 162.8 201.8 11,059.3
Financial derivatives other than reserves 1,507.6 248.3 (2) (2) 1,755.9
Over-the-counter contracts 1,465.2 253.4 (2) (2) 1,718.7
Single-currency interest rate contracts 1,032.1 246.3 (2) (2) 1,278.3
Foreign exchange contracts 277.0 7.8 (2) (2) 284.8
Other contracts 156.2 −0.7 (2) (2) 155.5
Exchange-traded contracts 42.4 −5.1 (2) (2) 37.2
Other investment 6,280.7 108.6 105.5 3.1 6,389.2
Currency and deposits 3,222.4 113.5 111.9 1.5 3,335.9
Loans 2,803.4 −3.1 −7.2 4.1 2,800.3
Insurance technical reserves n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Trade credit and advances 205.8 −1.9 0.7 −2.6 204.0
Special drawing rights allocations 49.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 49.1
n.a.
Not available
(*)
Value between zero and +/− $50 million
  1. Disaggregation of other changes in position into price changes, exchange rate changes, and other changes in volume and valuation is only presented for annual statistics released in June each year.
  2. Financial transactions and other changes in financial derivatives positions are available only 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 BEA's 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.

U.S. assets increased by $952.7 billion, to a total of $28.01 trillion, at the end of the second quarter, reflecting increases in all major categories of assets, particularly in portfolio investment and direct investment assets (chart 2). Portfolio investment assets increased by $366.4 billion, to $12.68 trillion, and direct investment assets increased by $232.8 billion, to $8.39 trillion. These increases were driven mainly by foreign stock price increases that raised the value of these assets.

Both financial transactions and other changes in position contributed to the overall increase in U.S. assets (table A).

Chart 2. U.S. Assets

[Click chart to expand]

U.S. liabilities increased by $1.35 trillion, to a total of $38.56 trillion, at the end of the second quarter, reflecting increases in all major categories of liabilities, particularly in portfolio investment liabilities (chart 3). Portfolio investment liabilities increased by $665.3 billion, to $20.62 trillion, driven mainly by U.S. stock and bond price increases that raised the value of these liabilities.

Both financial transactions and other changes in position contributed to the overall increase in U.S. liabilities (table A).

Chart 3. U.S. Liabilities

[Click chart to expand]

The U.S. net international investment position statistics for the first quarter of 2019 have been updated to incorporate newly available and revised source data (table B).

Table B. Updates to First Quarter 2019 International Investment Position Aggregates
[Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted]
  Preliminary estimate Revised estimate
U.S. net international investment position −9,929.1 −10,156.7
U.S. assets 27,137.6 27,056.4
Direct investment at market value 8,208.6 8,153.2
Portfolio investment 12,349.3 12,311.7
Financial derivatives other than reserves 1,554.9 1,539.5
Other investment 4,573.1 4,600.4
Reserve assets 451.7 451.7
U.S. liabilities 37,066.7 37,213.1
Direct investment at market value 9,441.4 9,470.1
Portfolio investment 19,842.0 19,954.7
Financial derivatives other than reserves 1,524.3 1,507.6
Other investment 6,259.1 6,280.7