Foreign Ownership of US Debt: January 2013 vs January 2003

Foreign Ownership of US Debt Has Increased By Over $4 Trillion in 10 Years

On January 31st, 2003, the US government had total public debt outstanding of $6.4 trillion.

Of this figure, roughly $3.647 trillion was "debt held by the public", which is debt that is owned by foreign investors, foreign governments, American investors, pensions, etc.

Of the $6.4 trillion in total debt that was owed as of January 31st, 2003, $1.237 trillion was owned by foreign holders.

Let's fast forward to January of 2013.

As of January 31st, 2013, the US government owed $16.433 trillion, with $11.56 trillion of that being in the form of "debt held by the public".

Of the $16.433 trillion that was owed as of January 31st, 2013, $5.616 trillion was owned by foreign holders.

That means that, over the last 10 years, foreign ownership of US debt has increased by nearly $4.4 trillion.

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Let's compare the top 10 foreign holders of US debt in January 2003 vs January 2013:

January 2003:

Japan, $385.0 billion
China, $120.7 billion
United Kingdom, $81.1 billion
Hong Kong, $50.1 billion
Caribbean Banking Centers, $48.2 billion
Oil Exporters, $47.7 billion
Taiwan, $37.4 billion
South Korea, $36.7 billion
Germany, $35.9 billion
Switzerland, $34.5 billion

Foreign

January 2013:

China, $1,264.5 billion
Japan, $1,115.2 billion
Oil Exporters, $262.0 billion
Brazil, $253.4 billion
Caribbean Banking Centers, $236.9 billion
Taiwan, $196.6 billion
Switzerland, $192.7 billion
Russia, $162.9 billion
Luxembourg, $144.7 billion
Belgium, $143.5 billion

Foreign