A Look at the U.S. International Investment Position
Second Quarter of 2023
The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents' foreign financial assets and liabilities, was −$18.00 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2023 (chart 1). Assets totaled $33.58 trillion, and liabilities were $51.58 trillion. At the end of the first quarter, the net investment position was −$16.74 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 −$1.26 trillion change in the net investment position from the first quarter to the second quarter came from net financial transactions of −$105.0 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange-rate changes, of −$1.16 trillion. Net other changes mostly reflected U.S. stock price increases that exceeded foreign stock price increases (table A).
U.S. assets increased by $866.6 billion to a total of $33.58 trillion at the end of the second quarter. All major categories of assets increased except for U.S. reserve assets.
Direct investment assets increased by $298.5 billion to $10.30 trillion and portfolio investment assets increased by $197.3 billion to $14.83 trillion, driven mainly by foreign stock price increases that raised the market value of these assets. Financial derivatives increased by $289.7 billion to $2.48 trillion, driven by increases in single-currency interest rate contracts. Other investment assets increased by $101.6 billion to $5.23 trillion, driven by U.S. acquisitions of loans. These increases in assets were partly offset by a decrease in U.S. reserve assets that mostly reflected gold price decreases (chart 2).
Price changes, a component of other changes in position, and financial transactions contributed to the overall increase in U.S. assets (table A).
U.S. liabilities increased by $2.13 trillion to a total of $51.58 trillion at the end of the second quarter. All major categories of liabilities increased except for other investment liabilities.
Portfolio investment liabilities increased by $994.1 billion to $26.81 trillion and direct investment liabilities increased by $980.4 billion to $14.00 trillion, driven mainly by U.S. stock price increases that raised the market value of these liabilities. Financial derivatives increased by $304.5 billion to $2.46 trillion, driven by increases in single-currency interest rate contracts. These increases in liabilities were partly offset by a decrease in other investment liabilities that mostly reflected U.S. repayments of loans (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, 2023:Q1 | Change in position in 2023:Q2 | End of quarter position, 2023:Q2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Attributable to: | ||||
| Financial transactions | Other changes in position1 | ||||
| U.S. net international investment position | −16,736.0 | −1,261.7 | −105.0 | −1,156.6 | −17,997.7 |
| Net position excluding financial derivatives | −16,778.4 | −1,246.9 | −100.3 | −1,146.6 | −18,025.3 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves, net2 | 42.4 | −14.7 | −4.7 | −10.0 | 27.7 |
| U.S. assets | 32,711.6 | 866.6 | (2) | (2) | 33,578.2 |
| Assets excluding financial derivatives | 30,518.5 | 576.9 | 245.9 | 331.0 | 31,095.3 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,193.1 | 289.7 | (2) | (2) | 2,482.8 |
| By functional category: | |||||
| Direct investment at market value | 10,006.1 | 298.5 | 96.1 | 202.4 | 10,304.6 |
| Equity | 8,773.0 | 285.4 | 89.2 | 196.2 | 9,058.4 |
| Debt instruments | 1,233.1 | 13.2 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 1,246.3 |
| Portfolio investment | 14,629.7 | 197.3 | 40.3 | 157.0 | 14,827.0 |
| Equity and investment fund shares | 10,796.8 | 234.9 | 27.1 | 207.7 | 11,031.7 |
| Debt securities | 3,832.9 | −37.6 | 13.2 | −50.7 | 3,795.3 |
| Short term | 478.8 | −20.8 | −19.0 | −1.8 | 458.0 |
| Long term | 3,354.1 | −16.8 | 32.2 | −48.9 | 3,337.3 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,193.1 | 289.7 | (2) | (2) | 2,482.8 |
| Over-the-counter contracts | 2,127.9 | 290.1 | (2) | (2) | 2,418.0 |
| Single-currency interest rate contracts | 1,637.7 | 235.3 | (2) | (2) | 1,873.0 |
| Foreign exchange contracts | 321.0 | 53.4 | (2) | (2) | 374.4 |
| Other contracts | 169.1 | 1.4 | (2) | (2) | 170.6 |
| Exchange-traded contracts | 65.3 | −0.4 | (2) | (2) | 64.8 |
| Other investment | 5,129.2 | 101.6 | 109.2 | −7.6 | 5,230.8 |
| Other equity | 73.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 75.3 |
| Currency and deposits | 2,170.1 | 3.7 | 5.9 | −2.3 | 2,173.7 |
| Loans | 2,847.8 | 98.1 | 103.4 | −5.3 | 2,946.0 |
| Insurance technical reserves | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Trade credit and advances | 37.6 | −1.7 | −1.7 | (*) | 35.8 |
| Reserve assets | 753.5 | −20.6 | 0.3 | −20.9 | 732.9 |
| Monetary gold | 517.7 | −17.6 | 0.0 | −17.6 | 500.1 |
| Special drawing rights | 163.2 | −1.0 | 0.8 | −1.8 | 162.2 |
| Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund | 35.1 | −1.0 | −0.6 | −0.4 | 34.1 |
| Other reserve assets | 37.4 | −0.9 | 0.1 | −1.0 | 36.5 |
| U.S. liabilities | 49,447.6 | 2,128.3 | (2) | (2) | 51,575.9 |
| Liabilities excluding financial derivatives | 47,296.9 | 1,823.8 | 346.2 | 1,477.6 | 49,120.7 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,150.7 | 304.5 | (2) | (2) | 2,455.2 |
| By functional category: | |||||
| Direct investment at market value | 13,021.4 | 980.4 | 104.2 | 876.2 | 14,001.8 |
| Equity | 11,258.7 | 934.1 | 76.5 | 857.6 | 12,192.8 |
| Debt instruments | 1,762.7 | 46.2 | 27.6 | 18.6 | 1,808.9 |
| Portfolio investment | 25,820.5 | 994.1 | 387.1 | 606.9 | 26,814.5 |
| Equity and investment fund shares | 12,772.8 | 907.5 | 75.3 | 832.2 | 13,680.3 |
| Debt securities | 13,047.7 | 86.5 | 311.8 | −225.3 | 13,134.2 |
| Short term | 1,244.6 | −23.5 | −24.3 | 0.9 | 1,221.2 |
| Long term | 11,803.1 | 110.0 | 336.2 | −226.2 | 11,913.0 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,150.7 | 304.5 | (2) | (2) | 2,455.2 |
| Over-the-counter contracts | 2,079.1 | 311.2 | (2) | (2) | 2,390.3 |
| Single-currency interest rate contracts | 1,588.3 | 253.8 | (2) | (2) | 1,842.1 |
| Foreign exchange contracts | 319.0 | 49.3 | (2) | (2) | 368.3 |
| Other contracts | 171.8 | 8.1 | (2) | (2) | 179.9 |
| Exchange-traded contracts | 71.6 | −6.7 | (2) | (2) | 64.9 |
| Other investment | 8,455.0 | −150.6 | −145.2 | −5.5 | 8,304.4 |
| Other equity | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Currency and deposits | 4,357.7 | −39.9 | −38.9 | −1.0 | 4,317.8 |
| Loans | 3,687.0 | −113.1 | −111.4 | −1.7 | 3,574.0 |
| Insurance technical reserves | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Trade credit and advances | 255.8 | 4.1 | 5.1 | −1.0 | 259.9 |
| Special drawing rights allocations | 154.5 | −1.7 | 0.0 | −1.7 | 152.8 |
- 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.
The U.S. international investment position statistics for the first quarter of 2023 have been updated to incorporate newly available and revised source data (table B).
| Type of investment | Preliminary estimate | Revised estimate |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. net international investment position | −16,750.2 | −16,736.0 |
| U.S. assets | 32,741.1 | 32,711.6 |
| Direct investment at market value | 9,993.8 | 10,006.1 |
| Portfolio investment | 14,657.1 | 14,629.7 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,193.1 | 2,193.1 |
| Other investment | 5,143.6 | 5,129.2 |
| Reserve assets | 753.5 | 753.5 |
| U.S. liabilities | 49,491.3 | 49,447.6 |
| Direct investment at market value | 13,034.3 | 13,021.4 |
| Portfolio investment | 25,852.3 | 25,820.5 |
| Financial derivatives other than reserves | 2,150.7 | 2,150.7 |
| Other investment | 8,454.0 | 8,455.0 |
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has incorporated newly available source data from the Treasury International Capital System “Aggregate Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value Changes of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents” (TIC SLT) form to more accurately measure portfolio investment transactions in equity and investment fund shares and in long-term debt securities. The new TIC SLT transactions data, beginning with the first quarter of 2023, have replaced BEA's estimation method for these portfolio investment transactions statistics that were derived from positions data reported on the TIC SLT form. For more information on this method, which remains relevant for periods prior to 2023, see paragraph 17.15 of U.S. International Economic Accounts: Concepts and Methods. For more information on the new source data, see the “Technical Note” included with the U.S. international transactions news release on September 21. Portfolio investment position statistics presented in this article are not affected by the new treatment of transactions.
