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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2021
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 21-46

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

U.S. International Investment Position
Second Quarter 2021
The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial
assets and liabilities, was –$15.42 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2021, according to statistics
released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Assets totaled $34.20 trillion and liabilities were
$49.62 trillion.
At the end of the first quarter, the net investment position was –$14.30 trillion (Table 1).

The –$1.12 trillion change in the net investment position from the first quarter to the second quarter came
from net financial transactions of –$277.6 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and
exchange rate changes, of –$841.4 billion that mostly reflected U.S. stock price increases that exceeded
foreign stock price increases (Table A).

COVID-19 Impact on Second Quarter 2021 International Investment Position

The global pandemic and the economic recovery continued to impact the IIP in the second quarter of
2021. The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the IIP statistics because
the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

Table A. Quarterly Change in the U.S. Net International Investment Position
Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted
Change in position in 2021 Q2
End of
quarter
Attributable to:
position,
Total
Financial
Other changes
2021 Q1
transactions in position 1
U.S. net international investment position
-14,300.5 -1,119.1
-277.6
-841.4
Net position excluding financial derivatives
-14,333.6 -1,123.8
-269.0
-854.8
Financial derivatives other than reserves, net
33.1
4.8
-8.6
13.4

End of
quarter
position,
2021 Q2
-15,419.6
-15,457.5
37.9

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

32,838.0
30,679.1
2,158.9

1,358.0
1,410.8
-52.8

(2)
259.3
(2)

(2)
1,151.4
(2)

34,196.0
32,089.8
2,106.1

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

47,138.5
45,012.7
2,125.8

2,477.0
2,534.6
-57.5

(2)
528.3
(2)

(2)
2,006.2
(2)

49,615.6
47,547.3
2,068.3

1. 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 June each year.
2. Financial transactions and other changes in financial derivatives positions are available on a net basis; they are not sep arately
available for U.S. assets and U.S. liabilities.

U.S. assets increased by $1.36 trillion, to a total of $34.20 trillion at the end of the second quarter, mostly
reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment assets. Portfolio investment assets
increased by $755.8 billion, to $15.90 trillion, and direct investment assets increased by $656.4 billion, to
$10.55 trillion, driven mainly by increases in foreign stock prices that raised the value of these assets.
U.S. liabilities increased by $2.48 trillion, to a total of $49.62 trillion at the end of the second quarter,
mostly reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment liabilities. Portfolio investment
liabilities increased by $1.41 trillion, to $26.59 trillion, and direct investment liabilities increased by $927.2
billion, to $13.49 trillion, driven mainly by increases in U.S. stock prices that raised the value of these
liabilities.

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Updates to First Quarter 2021 International Investment Position Aggregates
Trillions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted
Preliminary estimate
U.S. net international investment position
–14.32
U.S. assets
32.81
U.S. liabilities
47.13

Revised estimate
–14.30
32.84
47.14

Upcoming Releases of New Statistics
With the releases of the U.S. international transactions accounts (ITAs) on December 21, 2021, and the
international investment position (IIP) accounts on December 30, 2021, BEA will introduce two new ITA
tables (ITA tables 4.6 and 6.3) and two new IIP tables (IIP tables 2.2 and 4.1), respectively. These new tables
will be released in December to fulfill commitments to the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative and the International
Monetary Fund’s Taskforce on Special Purpose Entities for the release of certain new statistics by yearend
2021. ITA table 4.6 will present primary income on foreign direct investment in U.S. resident special
purpose entities (SPEs), which are U.S. legal entities with little or no employment or physical presence, and
ITA table 6.3 will present financial transactions for direct investment in U.S. resident SPEs. IIP table 2.2 will
present direct investment positions in U.S. resident SPEs, and IIP table 4.1 will present U.S. debt positions
by currency, sector, and maturity for U.S. assets and liabilities.
In December, these tables will be released as supplemental Excel files to the respective releases. The SPErelated tables—ITA tables 4.6 and 6.3 and IIP table 2.2—will feature annual statistics for 2020, while IIP
table 4.1 will feature quarter-end position statistics for the first quarter of 2020 through the third quarter of
2021. In March 2022, these tables will be updated and published as addenda to the current tables in BEA’s
interactive data application. In June 2022, the statistics will be updated and incorporated into the standard
presentations of the ITAs and the IIP accounts in the interactive data application and in BEA’s data
application programming interface. ITA table templates and IIP table templates are provided on BEA’s
–3–

website to prepare users for the upcoming changes. More information will be available in a preview article
of BEA’s annual update of the international economic accounts in the April 2022 issue of the Survey of
Current Business.

*

*

*

Next release: December 30, 2021, at 8:30 A.M. EST
U.S. International Investment Position, Third Quarter 2021
*

*

–4–

*

Additional Information
Resources
•

•
•
•
•
•

•

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.

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.

–5–

Release and update schedule

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.

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 other equity
(equity not in the form of securities), 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

–6–

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

2020

Type of investment
Q1

Q2

Change:
2021Q1 to
2021Q2

2021
Q3

Q4

Q1

r

Q2

p

Line

1 U.S. net international investment position (line 4 less line 36)

-12,116.9 -12,995.8 -13,767.4 -14,011.2 -14,300.5 -15,419.6

-1,119.1

1

2

Net international investment position excluding financial derivatives (line 5 less line 37)

-12,151.0 -13,018.0 -13,794.3 -14,004.6 -14,333.6 -15,457.5

-1,123.8

2

3

Financial derivatives other than reserves, net (line 6 less line 38)

34.0

22.2

26.9

-6.6

33.1

37.9

4.8

3

4 U.S. assets

26,939.7

28,787.7

29,517.7

32,256.3

32,838.0

34,196.0

1,358.0

4

5

Assets excluding financial derivatives (sum of lines 7, 10, 21, and 27)

23,940.7

26,036.9

26,972.5

29,710.6

30,679.1

32,089.8

1,410.8

5

6

Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross positive fair value (line 15)

2,999.0

2,750.8

2,545.2

2,545.7

2,158.9

2,106.1

-52.8

6

By functional category:
7

6,946.8

7,925.3

8,346.4

9,405.1

9,892.2

10,548.6

656.4

7

8

Equity

5,713.6

6,747.3

7,130.4

8,176.6

8,668.8

9,321.3

652.4

8

9

Debt instruments

1,233.2

1,178.1

1,216.0

1,228.5

1,223.4

1,227.4

4.0

9

11,013.4

12,382.3

13,045.4

14,605.6

15,146.8

15,902.6

755.8

10

10

Direct investment at market value

Portfolio investment

11

Equity and investment fund shares

7,442.6

8,574.9

9,142.7

10,535.9

11,043.2

11,733.4

690.2

11

12

Debt securities

3,570.8

3,807.4

3,902.8

4,069.7

4,103.6

4,169.2

65.6

12

13

Short term

642.7

664.1

686.4

720.4

755.2

775.3

20.1

13

14

Long term

2,928.1

3,143.3

3,216.4

3,349.3

3,348.4

3,393.9

45.6

14

2,999.0

2,750.8

2,545.2

2,545.7

2,158.9

2,106.1

-52.8

15

2,911.2

2,699.9

2,493.6

2,491.4

2,098.5

2,043.4

-55.1

16

2,130.9

2,195.1

1,995.8

1,914.0

1,524.9

1,505.2

-19.7

17

15
16

Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross positive fair value
Over-the-counter contracts

17

Single-currency interest rate contracts

18

Foreign exchange contracts

482.0

315.6

294.7

372.1

357.9

298.2

-59.7

18

19

Other contracts

298.3

189.1

203.1

205.3

215.8

240.1

24.3

19

87.8

50.9

51.6

54.4

60.4

62.7

2.4

20

5,443.0

5,144.2

4,959.4

5,072.6

5,070.0

5,048.4

-21.6

21

69.3

69.3

69.6

69.9

71.1

71.1

0.0

22

20
21

Exchange-traded contracts
Other investment

22

Other equity

23

Currency and deposits

2,588.0

2,283.4

2,172.9

2,190.5

2,170.2

2,096.1

-74.1

23

24

Loans

2,737.0

2,748.1

2,675.2

2,766.7

2,779.4

2,834.8

55.4

24

25

Insurance technical reserves

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

25

26

Trade credit and advances

48.5

43.4

41.8

45.6

49.3

46.4

-2.9

26

537.5

585.1

621.2

627.3

570.1

590.1

20.0

27

420.7

462.4

493.4

493.6

442.2

461.1

18.9

28

27

Reserve assets

28

Monetary gold

29

Special drawing rights

50.1

50.6

51.7

52.9

52.1

52.4

0.3

29

30

Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund

25.5

30.6

33.1

36.4

33.7

34.3

0.7

30

31

Other reserve assets

41.1

41.5

42.9

44.4

42.1

42.3

0.2

31

32

Currency and deposits

29.5

30.6

32.0

30.0

28.4

29.0

0.6

32

33

Securities

11.6

11.0

10.9

14.3

13.7

13.3

-0.4

33

34

Financial derivatives

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

34

35

Other claims

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

35

36 U.S. liabilities

39,056.6

41,783.5

43,285.1

46,267.6

47,138.5

49,615.6

2,477.0

36

37

Liabilities excluding financial derivatives (sum of lines 39, 42, and 57)

36,091.6

39,054.9

40,766.9

43,715.2

45,012.7

47,547.3

2,534.6

37

38

Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross negative fair value (line 51)

2,965.0

2,728.6

2,518.2

2,552.4

2,125.8

2,068.3

-57.5

38

By functional category:
39

8,717.6

10,035.5

10,843.1

11,977.9

12,562.5

13,489.7

927.2

39

40

Equity

7,006.1

8,408.9

9,145.6

10,262.0

10,873.0

11,791.8

918.8

40

41

Debt instruments

1,711.5

1,626.7

1,697.5

1,715.9

1,689.6

1,697.9

8.3

41

19,938.1

21,982.2

22,890.9

24,628.4

25,179.3

26,588.0

1,408.7

42

7,658.2

9,168.9

10,047.2

11,605.6

12,374.7

13,372.1

997.4

43

12,279.9

12,813.3

12,843.7

13,022.8

12,804.6

13,215.9

411.3

44

925.5

1,252.5

1,214.1

1,216.2

1,171.2

1,143.6

-27.7

45

42

Direct investment at market value

Portfolio investment

43

Equity and investment fund shares

44

Debt securities

45

Short term

46

Treasury bills and certificates

729.5

1,040.6

1,017.3

1,027.3

966.5

925.3

-41.2

46

47

Other short-term securities

196.0

211.9

196.8

188.8

204.7

218.3

13.6

47

11,354.3

11,560.8

11,629.7

11,806.6

11,633.4

12,072.4

439.0

48

48

Long term

49

Treasury bonds and notes

6,220.0

6,005.9

6,051.9

6,043.4

6,061.9

6,276.9

215.0

49

50

Other long-term securities

5,134.3

5,554.9

5,577.8

5,763.2

5,571.5

5,795.5

224.0

50

2,965.0

2,728.6

2,518.2

2,552.4

2,125.8

2,068.3

-57.5

51

2,877.9

2,678.6

2,471.6

2,500.9

2,069.3

2,005.5

-63.8

52

2,131.8

2,171.6

1,976.5

1,902.2

1,500.5

1,480.0

-20.5

53

51
52

Financial derivatives other than reserves, gross negative fair value
Over-the-counter contracts

53

Single-currency interest rate contracts

54

Foreign exchange contracts

470.4

318.1

290.3

386.2

340.5

281.4

-59.0

54

55

Other contracts

275.6

188.9

204.7

212.4

228.3

244.0

15.8

55

87.1

49.9

46.6

51.5

56.6

62.8

6.3

56

7,435.9

7,037.2

7,032.9

7,108.9

7,270.8

7,469.5

198.7

57

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

58

56
57

Exchange-traded contracts
Other investment

58

Other equity

59

Currency and deposits

3,975.3

3,735.0

3,735.8

3,804.2

3,893.6

3,959.2

65.6

59

60

Loans

3,205.8

3,045.4

3,037.4

3,037.7

3,106.2

3,236.0

129.8

60

61

Insurance technical reserves

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

61

62

Trade credit and advances

206.7

208.1

209.9

216.2

220.9

224.0

3.0

62

63

Special drawing rights allocations

48.2

48.6

49.7

50.9

50.1

50.4

0.3

63

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

–7–