Who Owns America's Debt? Every Foreign Holder of US Treasuries

01The Top 20 Foreign Holders

Japan is the largest foreign holder of US Treasury securities, with $1.07 trillion at the end of August 2026, followed by United Kingdom at $1.01 trillion, just $59 billion behind. Foreign holdings in total came to $9.33 trillion, up $83 billion from a year earlier. The table shows the 20 largest holders as Treasury lists them, in billions of dollars, with each one's change over one month and twelve months. The rankings cover foreign holders only; most US debt held by the public is owned in the United States, by Americans, US funds and banks and the Federal Reserve (see section 05).

Holdings at the end of August 2026, billions of dollars. "Record" marks a holder at its highest month in Treasury's data since March 2000. Of the official holdings, $3,443.4 billion is in Treasury bonds and notes and $312.2 billion in bills.

02Japan, China and the UK Since 2000

Japan and China were for years the two giants of foreign Treasury ownership. China passed Japan in September 2008 and held the top spot for most of the next decade, peaking at $1.32 trillion in November 2013. Japan's holdings peaked at $1.33 trillion in November 2021. The United Kingdom, a hub for global investors, now holds $1.01 trillion, about 4.1 times its holdings at the start of 2018.

03China's Long Decline in Reported Holdings

China's reported holdings have fallen from $1.32 trillion in November 2013 to $591 billion, a drop of 55%. These are month-end holdings, not transactions, so they cannot show how much of the fall is outright selling. Some of it is China letting bonds mature without replacing them, and some is lower bond prices, since the figures are at market value. Part of it may also be holdings moving to custodians in other countries, such as Belgium, which Treasury's country figures would then count under that country instead of China.

China peaked at $1.32 trillion in November 2013. Figures are for mainland China only; Hong Kong and Taiwan are listed separately.

04Who Held the Top Spot, Month by Month

Japan has been the largest foreign holder every month since June 2019. Treasury's regional groups (such as the oil exporters it reported as one line before 2012) are left out. Some handovers, in 2015 especially, came down to less than $1 billion, so Treasury revisions can shift a close month.

05How Much of the Debt Is Foreign-Owned

At the end of August 2026, the US government owed $32.41 trillion to outside holders (the debt held by the public, which leaves out what one part of the government owes another, such as the Social Security trust funds). Foreign holders owned 29% of it. The foreign share peaked at 49% in April 2008. Since then the debt has grown much faster than foreign holdings, so Americans, US funds and banks, and the Federal Reserve hold a larger share.

Foreign holdings (TIC) divided by debt held by the public at the end of the same month (Treasury, Debt to the Penny). TIC values bonds and notes at market prices and includes some non-marketable securities, while debt held by the public is at face value, so the share is an estimate.

06Look Up a Country

Pick any country Treasury has listed since 2000 to see its holdings month by month.

Treasury publishes monthly figures for the 20 largest holders. Smaller holders appear in its history file and may stop part way through a year or end when a country falls off the list.

07How to Read These Numbers

Custody, not always ownership. Treasury collects these figures mainly from US custodians and broker-dealers, which record the country of the account, not always the real owner. Treasury notes this on its tables. A Treasury bond held for a Chinese or Middle Eastern investor through a bank in London, Brussels or the Cayman Islands is counted under the United Kingdom, Belgium or the Cayman Islands. That is why financial centers rank so high.

A fall is not always a sale. Since late 2011, the monthly bond and note figures come from Treasury's Form SLT, which records market (fair) value. When bond prices fall, as they did when interest rates rose in 2022, holdings shrink even if nobody sells. When bonds mature and are not replaced, holdings shrink too.

Series breaks before 2012. Until late 2011, the monthly figures were estimates that Treasury reset each June to its annual survey of foreign holdings. Some countries change sharply in those Junes, the UK above all, because the new survey moved holdings between countries. This page uses Treasury's newer figure for each June. In Treasury's older figures, the United Kingdom line also includes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Foreign official holdings are those of foreign governments, central banks and similar public bodies, as distinct from private investors such as banks, funds and companies.

08Questions People Ask

09Method and Sources

Monthly holdings by country come from Treasury's table of Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities: the current table for the latest 13 months and the history file for earlier months, back to March 2000. Where the two differ, the current table is used, because it carries Treasury's latest revisions. The foreign share uses debt held by the public on the last day of each month from Treasury's Debt to the Penny data. "Record" and peak figures are measured against every month on this page.

• US Treasury, TIC: Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities (current table)
• US Treasury, TIC: Major Foreign Holders, historical data from March 2000
• US Treasury: Treasury International Capital (TIC) system
• US Treasury, Fiscal Data: Debt to the Penny

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