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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019
Technical:

Media:

Christopher Gohrband
Elena Nguyen
Doug Weinberg (Direct Investment)
Jeannine Aversa

(301) 278-9564
(301) 278-9555
(301) 278-9590
(301) 278-9003

BEA 19-49

Christopher.Gohrband@bea.gov
Elena.Nguyen@bea.gov
Douglas.Weinberg@bea.gov
Jeannine.Aversa@bea.gov

U.S. International Investment Position
Second Quarter 2019
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, according to statistics
released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). 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 (Table 1).

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).

Table A. Quarterly Change in the U.S. Net International Investment Position
Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted
Position,
2019:I
U.S. net international investment position
Net position excluding financial derivatives
Financial derivatives other than reserves, net

-10,156.7
-10,188.6
31.9

Change in position in 2019:II
Attributable to:
Total
Financial
Other changes
transactions
in position 1
-398.8
-146.7
-252.1
-382.7
-137.5
-245.2
-16.1
-9.2
-6.9

-10,555.4
-10,571.2
15.8

Position,
2019:II

U.S. assets
Assets excluding financial derivatives
Financial derivatives other than reserves

27,056.4
25,516.9
1,539.5

952.7
720.6
232.1

(2)
217.7
(2)

(2)
502.9
(2)

28,009.2
26,237.5
1,771.7

U.S. liabilities
Liabilities excluding financial derivatives
Financial derivatives other than reserves

37,213.1
35,705.5
1,507.6

1,351.5
1,103.3
248.3

(2)
355.2
(2)

(2)
748.0
(2)

38,564.6
36,808.8
1,755.9

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.

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. 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.
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.
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.

–2–

Updates to First Quarter 2019 International Investment Position Aggregates
Trillions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted
Preliminary estimate
U.S. net international investment position

Revised estimate

-9.93

-10.16

U.S. assets

27.14

27.06

U.S. liabilities

37.07

37.21

Next release: December 27, 2019, at 8:30 A.M. EST
U.S. International Investment Position, Third Quarter 2019

–3–

Additional Information
Price changes (only presented for annual statistics in the
June news release) are changes in the value of an asset or
liability due to changes in the market price of a financial
instrument.

Resources
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

Stay informed about BEA developments by
reading the BEA blog, signing up for BEA’s email
subscription service, or following BEA on Twitter
@BEA_News.
Historical time series for these estimates can be
accessed in BEA’s interactive data application.
Access BEA data by registering for BEA’s Data
application programming interface (API).
For more on BEA’s statistics, see our monthly
online journal, the Survey of Current Business.
BEA's news release schedule.
More information on these international
investment position statistics will be provided
next month in the Survey of Current Business.
More information on the international investment
position accounts and a description of the
estimation methods used to compile them is
provided in U.S. International Economic Accounts:
Concepts and Methods.

Exchange rate changes (only presented for annual statistics
in the June news release) are changes in the value of foreigncurrency denominated assets and liabilities due to changes
in the values of foreign currencies relative to the value of the
U.S. dollar.
Changes in volume and valuation n.i.e. (only presented for
annual statistics in the June news release) reflect changes in
position due to year-to-year shifts in the composition of
reporting panels, the incorporation of more comprehensive
annual and benchmark survey results, and revaluations
(holding gains and losses) on assets and liabilities that are
not explained by price changes or exchange rate changes.
Functional categories are the primary classification system
used in the IIP and in the financial account of the ITAs. The
five functional categories are direct investment, portfolio
investment, financial derivatives other than reserves, other
investment, and reserve assets. While the functional
categories are based on features that are relevant for
understanding cross-border financial transactions and
positions, they also take into account some aspects of the
relationship between transactors and the economic
motivation for the investment. Within the functional
categories, the IIP accounts are classified by type of financial
instrument.

Definitions
The international investment position (IIP) is a statistical
balance sheet that presents the dollar value of U.S. financial
assets and liabilities with respect to foreign residents at a
specific point in time. BEA presents IIP statistics at the end
of a quarter or year (March, June, September, and
December). For the June release, BEA also presents statistics
on changes in the yearend position that are disaggregated
into financial transactions, price changes, exchange rate
changes, and changes in volume and valuation not included
elsewhere (n.i.e.).

Financial transactions are transactions between U.S.
residents and nonresidents in financial assets and liabilities.
They are also recorded in the financial account of the
international transactions accounts (ITAs). See Related
Statistics below.

Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment
associated with a resident in one economy having control or
a significant degree of influence on the management of an
enterprise resident in another economy. Ownership or
control of 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an
entity in another economy is the threshold for separating
direct investment from other types of investment. Direct
investment positions include positions in equity and debt
instruments. BEA’s IIP statistics feature the market value
measure of direct investment positions, a measure that
values owner’s equity at current-period prices using indexes
of stock market prices.

Other changes in position are changes in the value of U.S.
assets or liabilities arising from any source besides a
financial transaction. Other changes in position include price
changes, exchange rate changes, and changes in volume and
valuation not included elsewhere (n.i.e.).

Portfolio investment consists of cross-border positions
involving equity and investment fund shares and debt
securities, excluding those included in direct investment or
reserve assets. Debt securities are classified by original
maturity (short term vs. long term at the time of issue).

The U.S. net international investment position is defined as
the value of U.S. assets less the value of U.S. liabilities.

–4–

Financial derivatives other than reserves consist of crossborder positions arising from financial contracts that are
linked to underlying financial instruments, commodities, or
indicators. Positions in financial derivatives consist of
contracts with positive and negative fair values. A contract
with a positive fair value is a U.S. asset and represents the
amount that a foreign resident would have to pay to a U.S.
counterparty if the contract were terminated or settled. A
contract with a negative fair value is a U.S. liability and
represents the amount that a U.S. resident would have to
pay to a foreign counterparty if the contract were
terminated or settled. The gross positive (negative) fair
value is the sum across all contracts with positive (negative)
fair values. Fair values differ from notional values, which are
the underlying amounts used to calculate payments on
contracts. Gross positive and gross negative fair values for
financial derivatives positions are available separately in
table 1. However, transactions and other changes in
financial derivatives positions are only available for the net
position in financial derivatives. For other changes in
position for financial derivatives presented in the June news
release, statistics are not separately available for price
changes, exchange rate changes, and changes in volume and
valuation n.i.e.

Release and update schedule
Preliminary quarterly IIP account statistics are released in
March, June, September, and December, approximately 90
days after the end of the reference quarter. These statistics
are updated the following quarter to incorporate new and
revised source data. Quarterly statistics are open for
revision for at least the prior three years in annual updates
released in June. Preliminary annual statistics are released
in March reflecting positions at the end of the fourth quarter
of the previous year. These annual statistics are open for
revision for at least the prior three years in subsequent
annual updates.

Related statistics
The IIP statistics comprise one part of a broader set of U.S.
international economic accounts that, taken together,
provide a comprehensive, integrated and detailed picture of
U.S. international economic activities.
The international transactions accounts (ITAs) are released
quarterly. Financial transactions reported in the financial
account of the ITAs are one type of change in position
recorded in the IIP. Financial transactions are transactions
between U.S. residents and nonresidents for direct
investment, portfolio investment, other investment, reserve
assets, and financial derivatives.

Other investment includes cross-border positions other
than those included in direct investment, portfolio
investment, financial derivatives, and reserve assets. Other
investment positions consist of positions in currency and
deposits, loans, insurance technical reserves, trade credit
and advances, and, for liabilities, special drawing rights
allocations.

Statistics on direct investment and multinational enterprises
(MNEs) include annual statistics on the activities of U.S.
MNEs and U.S. affiliates of foreign MNEs, detailed annual
and quarterly statistics on direct investment, and annual
statistics on new foreign direct investment in the United
States.

Reserve assets are those external assets that are readily
available to and controlled by U.S. monetary authorities for
meeting balance of payments financing needs, for
intervention in exchange markets to affect the currency
exchange rate, and for other related purposes such as
maintaining confidence in the currency and the economy
and serving as a basis for foreign borrowing. The major
published components are monetary gold, International
Monetary Fund (IMF) special drawing rights (SDRs), reserve
position in the IMF, and other reserve assets.

Statistics on international services include detailed annual
information on trade in services and on services supplied
through the channel of direct investment by affiliates of
multinational enterprises.
U.S. international trade in goods and services, released by
BEA and the U.S. Census Bureau, provides monthly statistics
on trade in goods and services.

List of News Release Tables
Table 1. U.S. Net International Investment Position at the End of the Period

–5–

Table 1. U.S. Net International Investment Position at the End of the Period
[Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted]
Line

2018

Type of investment

I
1 U.S. net international investment position (line 4 less line 35)
-7,832.2
2 Net international investment position excluding financial derivatives (line 5 less line 36) -7,892.3
3 Financial derivatives other than reserves, net (line 6 less line 37)
60.1
4 U.S. assets
27,619.2
5
Assets excluding financial derivatives (sum of lines 7, 10, 21, and 26)
26,096.5
6
Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross positive fair value (line 15)
1,522.6
By functional category:
7
Direct investment at market value
8,593.8
8
Equity
7,254.1
9
Debt instruments
1,339.8
10
Portfolio investment
12,663.8
11
Equity and investment fund shares
9,140.0
12
Debt securities
3,523.7
13
Short term
673.3
14
Long term
2,850.5
15
Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross positive fair value
1,522.6
16
Over-the-counter contracts
1,470.6
17
Single-currency interest rate contracts
1,030.7
18
Foreign exchange contracts
260.7
19
Other contracts
179.2
20
Exchange-traded contracts
52.0
21
Other investment
4,377.6
22
Currency and deposits
1,838.0
23
Loans
2,488.4
24
Insurance technical reserves
n.a.
25
Trade credit and advances
51.2
26
Reserve assets
461.3
27
Monetary gold
346.2
28
Special drawing rights
53.0
29
Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund
17.9
30
Other reserve assets
44.3
31
Currency and deposits
27.4
32
Securities
16.9
33
Financial derivatives
…..
34
Other claims
0.0
35 U.S. liabilities
35,451.4
36
Liabilities excluding financial derivatives (sum of lines 38, 41, and 56)
33,988.9
37
Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross negative fair value (line 50)
1,462.5
By functional category:
38
Direct investment at market value
8,830.5
39
Equity
7,064.2
40
Debt instruments
1,766.3
41
Portfolio investment
19,391.5
42
Equity and investment fund shares
7,980.9
43
Debt securities
11,410.5
44
Short term
985.8
45
Treasury bills and certificates
717.2
46
Other short-term securities
268.6
47
Long term
10,424.8
48
Treasury bonds and notes
5,506.3
49
Other long-term securities
4,918.5
50
Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross negative fair value
1,462.5
51
Over-the-counter contracts
1,414.1
52
Single-currency interest rate contracts
980.9
53
Foreign exchange contracts
261.7
54
Other contracts
171.5
55
Exchange-traded contracts
48.4
56
Other investment
5,766.9
57
Currency and deposits
3,222.7
58
Loans
2,299.8
59
Insurance technical reserves
n.a.
60
Trade credit and advances
193.1
61
Special drawing rights allocations
51.3
p Preliminary r Revised n.a. Not available ..... Not applicable
Note: Details may not add to totals because of rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

–6–

II
-8,905.6
-8,976.9
71.3
26,962.0
25,436.0
1,525.9

III
-9,701.0
-9,767.6
66.7
27,062.0
25,614.7
1,447.3

2019
IV
-9,554.7
-9,592.4
37.7
25,241.5
23,749.2
1,492.3

r

I
-10,156.7
-10,188.6
31.9
27,056.4
25,516.9
1,539.5

p

II
-10,555.4
-10,571.2
15.8
28,009.2
26,237.5
1,771.7

Change:
2019:I to Line
2019:II
-398.8
1
-382.7
2
-16.1
3
952.7
4
720.6
5
232.1
6

8,421.6 8,488.7 7,503.9 8,153.2 8,386.0
7,111.3 7,175.5 6,183.9 6,877.7 7,118.4
1,310.3 1,313.2 1,320.0 1,275.5 1,267.6
12,351.9 12,532.0 11,491.4 12,311.7 12,678.1
8,845.1 8,980.9 7,996.5 8,720.6 8,930.1
3,506.8 3,551.1 3,494.9 3,591.1 3,748.0
668.5
688.0
655.1
671.0
695.2
2,838.3 2,863.1 2,839.9 2,920.1 3,052.8
1,525.9 1,447.3 1,492.3 1,539.5 1,771.7
1,461.7 1,383.9 1,433.8 1,495.0 1,733.4
967.4
906.8
954.3 1,053.0 1,291.8
334.3
301.5
303.5
284.3
281.0
160.1
175.6
175.9
157.7
160.6
64.2
63.3
58.4
44.5
38.3
4,221.7 4,171.0 4,304.8 4,600.4 4,687.8
1,791.2 1,764.4 1,826.2 1,870.6 1,934.8
2,377.9 2,356.1 2,426.2 2,679.3 2,703.3
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
52.5
50.4
52.4
50.4
49.7
440.9
423.0
449.1
451.7
485.6
327.0
310.5
334.5
337.7
368.5
51.3
50.9
50.8
50.8
50.9
20.5
20.0
22.0
22.1
24.4
42.2
41.6
41.8
41.1
41.9
27.9
27.7
27.3
27.4
28.6
14.3
13.9
14.5
13.7
13.3
…..
…..
…..
…..
…..
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
35,867.6 36,762.9 34,796.2 37,213.1 38,564.6
34,412.9 35,382.3 33,341.6 35,705.5 36,808.8
1,454.7 1,380.6 1,454.6 1,507.6 1,755.9

232.8
240.7
-7.9
366.4
209.6
156.9
24.2
132.7
232.1
238.4
238.8
-3.3
2.9
-6.3
87.4
64.2
23.9
n.a.
-0.7
33.9
30.7
0.1
2.3
0.8
1.2
-0.5
…..
0.0
1,351.5
1,103.3
248.3

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37

9,004.2 9,605.6 8,483.3 9,470.1 9,799.6
7,271.9 7,854.4 6,797.3 7,726.2 8,033.2
1,732.3 1,751.2 1,686.1 1,743.9 1,766.4
19,461.2 19,859.1 18,715.8 19,954.7 20,620.0
8,144.3 8,530.7 7,420.2 8,256.1 8,637.4
11,316.9 11,328.3 11,295.6 11,698.6 11,982.6
1,022.4
969.0
981.9 1,003.9
923.3
750.7
715.6
745.8
763.8
704.0
271.6
253.5
236.1
240.1
219.3
10,294.5 10,359.3 10,313.7 10,694.7 11,059.3
5,474.3 5,510.3 5,519.1 5,709.5 5,932.3
4,820.2 4,849.0 4,794.6 4,985.2 5,127.0
1,454.7 1,380.6 1,454.6 1,507.6 1,755.9
1,395.1 1,324.2 1,394.6 1,465.2 1,718.7
919.7
856.3
922.0 1,032.1 1,278.3
316.7
290.4
298.9
277.0
284.8
158.7
177.5
173.6
156.2
155.5
59.6
56.4
60.0
42.4
37.2
5,947.5 5,917.6 6,142.4 6,280.7 6,389.2
3,160.0 3,152.6 3,255.4 3,222.4 3,335.9
2,540.2 2,516.0 2,639.1 2,803.4 2,800.3
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
197.5
199.7
198.8
205.8
204.0
49.7
49.3
49.1
49.0
49.1

329.4
307.0
22.5
665.3
381.3
284.0
-80.6
-59.8
-20.8
364.6
222.9
141.8
248.3
253.4
246.3
7.8
-0.7
-5.1
108.6
113.5
-3.1
n.a.
-1.9
0.1

38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61