Foreign Ownership of US Debt Sits at $5.56 Trillion

The US Department of the Treasury recently released their "Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities" report for November, 2012.

In the month of November, foreign ownership of US debt rose from $5.526 trillion to $5.557 trillion. Over the past 12 months, foreign ownership of US debt has risen from about $5.0 trillion to over $5.55 trillion.

China and Japan both own $1 trillion+ of US debt. As of November, China reportedly owned a little over $1.17 trillion in US debt, while Japan owned $1.1328 trillion. Combined, China and Japan own over $2.3 trillion in US Treasury Securities.

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Here are the top ten owners of US debt as of Nov/2012:

1. China, Mainland, $1170.1 billion dollars
2. Japan, $1132.8 billion dollars
3. Carib Bnkng Ctrs**, $283.7 billion dollars
4. Oil Exporters*, $260.1 billion dollars
5. Brazil, $257.0 billion dollars
6. All Other, $245.7 billion dollars
7. Taiwan, $193.1 billion dollars
8. Switzerland, $186.9 billion dollars
9. Russia, $164.1 billion dollars
10. United Kingdom, $145.0 billion dollars

*Includes oil exporting countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran

**includes countries such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands

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As of the last day of November, the United States owed over $11.5 trillion in "Debt Held by the Public" and an additional $4.8 trillion+ in "intragovernmental holdings".

Source: Largest Foreign Holders of US Debt

Filed under: General Knowledge